The Sarah Thorne Theatre and Coastal Community Learning hosted around 80 visitors to their drop in event at the theatre site this month.
The visitors were able to discuss the proposed refurbishment of the pottery site and view the architect’s images, hear how Coastal Learning is offering and were forewarned of a planned fundraising walk to take place in October.
Alongside this, displays from Inspiration Creative CIC, the Theatre Royal and the Winter Gardens offered their images and visions as example of the breadth of drama offerings across Thanet.
The theatre had been put up for auction by Kent County Council last year and was being advertised with a guide price of £350,000 with vacant possession for the pottery and tenanted possession of the Memorial Hall by the Sarah Thorne Theatre Company CIC.
It didn’t sell during the auction but an offer was accepted afterwards with theatre founder and director Michael Wheatley-Ward becoming the new owner.
Now there are plans for renovation of the pottery site thanks to a one-off grant from the Pride in Place scheme.
In April, Thanet council agreed to several Pride in Place allocations, including £50,000 for the Sarah Thorne Theatre.
The funding supports proposals for plans to improve accessibility to the site which may include moving the entrance, refurbishing the toilets and capital investment in the site to create a more sustainable, multi-use venue to secure the theatre’s long-term future as a community hub.
With the pottery area refurbishment there are also hopes to raise more funding to build an extension to house the pottery kilns behind the existing site.
Michael said: “It was a real pleasure to welcome faces old and new visiting us at the start of this next chapter.
“We intend to keep our audiences, friends and supporters up to date with our progress, and our growing partnership with Coastal Community Learning.
“For further information about the shows at Sarah Thorne and other information please go to our web site www.sarahthornetheatre.co.uk”
