Oldham Coliseum: ACE ‘unconvinced on relocation plans’

Arts Council England (ACE) harboured concerns about plans to relocate Oldham Coliseum to new premises when taking the decision to cut it from the National Portfolio, it has emerged.

Earlier this week the theatre broke the news it will cease staging events after 26 March, following a 100% funding cut from ACE announced in November last year.

Speaking to Arts Professional, Oldham Coliseum's Chief Executive Chris Lawson said feedback on the application provided by ACE highlighted concerns over the organisation's business model in relation to its proposed relocation to another site in the town.

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A move to a redeveloped former post office – a project being led by Oldham Council – has been on the cards for some time, after plans to redevelop another town centre site at a cost of £27m were dropped in 2018 for being deemed too expensive.

But a planning application for the work, which is part of larger “cultural quarter” project involving adjacent buildings for which planning permission was granted in November 2021, has yet to be submitted.

The Colisuem had been set to become the lead tenant of the new theatre site, with its existing venue deemed to be nearing the end of its lifespan and no longer fit for modern audiences.

It has previously been reported that £6.13m of a total of £24.4m Oldham Council received from the government’s Towns Fund had been set aside for the project with the remainder of the cost due to come from “council resources and match funding”.

Arts Professional understands that the funding target required for the work is yet to be reached.

Leadership questions

Decisions made by the Coliseum’s former board and executive team in relation to the relocation were called into question by ACE when the funder delivered its NPO rejection.

The feedback led to Lawson taking over as Chief Executive in November.

Lawson told Arts Professional concerns raised stemmed from decisions around the Coliseum’s business model with respect to relocating to a new site.

“Perhaps there retrospectively should have been movements to demonstrate a different direction earlier on. Perhaps that would’ve given the Arts Council more confidence,” he said.

“If you’re writing an application and within that application period you are within your current building, potentially out of that building for some time, and then in a new build, it’s very difficult to demonstrate the business model over that three-year period, because it shows uncertainty.”

“On the Coliseum’s behalf, that lack of certainty isn’t stemming from us, because that lack of certainty is reliant on a new build which isn’t in our control.”

Plans to redevelop Oldham's 'cultural quarter' site, not including the proposed new home for the Coliseum, got the go ahead in 2021

When asked if the Coliseum could still relocate to the new site in the future, Lawson said: “Theoretically the Coliseum could still go in that space, but for that to happen something needs to change in the interim period to enable us to remain live.”

“Because that building doesn’t exist yet, because our NPO [application] was unsuccessful and because our current building is not sustainable without investment, the situation that we are in is that a three-year gap has been created where there is potentially no theatre and no established producing company in the borough.”

Consultation process

Oldham Coliseum is now entering a month-long consultation period to determine whether it will be able to continue to operate.

Lawson said it will involve discussions with staff and “an ongoing conversation with ACE and Oldham Council to see what options are available to us and what, if anything, they can or are willing to bring to the table”.

He added the redundancy question for staff is “active”, if the theatre is unable to find the funding needed to continue producing plays. The venue currently has 20 permanent staff and 30 casual employees.

“We are a producing regional theatre and that requires sustained grants and subsidy, which is out of our hands. Unless something changes imminently, I do fear for the outcome,” Lawson said.

The loss of ACE’s regular funding equates to one third of Oldham Coliseum’s annual income.

It has applied to ACE for transition funding – equivalent to 58% of its annual NPO grant – which Lawson says will go towards “honouring the contracts of artists and companies and co-producers”.

“We’re keen to not see any wider impacts than necessary with this decision,” he added.

The decision to withdraw funding from the Coliseum – one of England’s oldest working theatres – has come under fire from politicians and sector leaders who pointed to Oldham being one of the government’s priority areas for levelling-up investment.

ACE has instead ringfenced the £1.8m requested by the Coliseum over the next NPO period for Oldham Council, which it says will be made available upon the council's application.

Jen Cleary, Director North at Arts Council England, said commented: “We're backing culture in Oldham and we've ringfenced our £1.845 million commitment for the town so that people don't miss out on amazing creative activities. Oldham Coliseum's decision to cancel forthcoming events has been difficult for their staff and all those who love the theatre, and we are speaking to them regularly to support them.

“At the same time we are working closely with Oldham Council on how our sizeable investment should be used to support the future of performing arts in Oldham and we are fully supporting plans for a new performing space for the town.”

Oldham Council has been contacted for comment.