THE CORNERHOUSE and Library Theatre Company are very close to securing the last of the funds for a 20 million pound merger building for the two companies.
The building, which is yet to be named, is in the second bidding round for a five million pound grant from the Arts Council.
The re-housing of the Cornerhouse Cinema and Library Theatre Company will be on First Street, near the Hacienda, and is predicted to be up and running by 2014.
Both companies will officially merge from tomorrow (Saturday 31st March 2012) and will be pursuing a branding exercise in due course.
The company is confident that the ambitious plans will go ahead; most of the funding has already been secured from Manchester City Council.
It is hoped the centre, which will bring together traditional, modern and digital art forms, will become a primary destination for Manchester tourists.
Iliana Taliotis, Account Director of Culture Colman Getty Consultancy, PR firm for the arts centre merger, says: “The Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company felt the city deserved and needed a diverse arts centre. The Cornerhouse has now grown out of it’s current site and now was the right time to propose this move.
“The important thing about the change is that everything people know and love about both the Cornerhouse and Library Theatre Company will still be there.”
‘Artistic centre of excellence’
It has not yet been decided what will happen to the current Cornerhouse site on Whitworth Street.
It is hoped the new centre will begin the 80 million pound regeneration of First Street.
New hotels, leisure spaces and car parks will be put in place next to the proposed centre, creating a prospective 10,000 new restaurant and leisure jobs.
Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure for Manchester City Council, said: “This is an important milestone in a project which play a powerful role in Manchester’s cultural and economic life.
“As a council we don’t see culture as an optional add-on. We see it as an essential ingredient of our regeneration plans, something which fuels the economy, supports jobs, nurtures talent and makes the city a more desirable place to be – for residents, visitors and investors alike.
“The merged organisation will play a powerful role in driving this ambition forwards and its new home will act as a catalyst to the regeneration of the wider area, as well as an artistic centre of excellence.”
The designs for the venue are being made by Dutch architects Mecanoo. The plans include two theatres, a gallery space, five cinema screens, education spaces, production and broadcast facilities, a café, restaurant, offices and workshop spaces.
A planning application has been submitted and will be considered in May. If this goes ahead, then building work will begin by early 2013.
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