Plans to reopen Oldham Coliseum ‘back on the table’

Oldham Coliseum could reopen as a theatre in the future, the leader of the town's council has said.

Speaking at an event celebrating the history of the venue, which closed in March last year, Oldham Council Leader Arooj Shah said the authority was “working up proposals for how we could bring the Fairbottom Street site back to life”.

She said the council was “undertaking surveys and analysis on the current building and producing plans for what a future for that building could look like”.

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“We’re not in a position to make any formal announcements at this point – there is still work to do," she said.

“But what I can say is that Fairbottom Street is very much back on the table as a possible future home of theatre in Oldham. Watch this space.”

The theatre's closure came after the organisation running it – Oldham Coliseum Theatre Company (OCT) – failed in its application for core funding from Arts Council England.

ACE then gave the £1.8m requested by the Coliseum for the 2023-26 investment period to Oldham Council to "invest in Oldham’s arts and culture sector".

In August last year Oldham passed on £860,000 to OCT to allow it to continue performing theatre in the town over the three-year period and prepare for a planned move to a new home in 2026.

Later that month a report commissioned by OCT into the condition of the former Fairbottom Street building and the cost and complexity of reopening it as a working theatre found that there is no reason why the building cannot be used.

Oldham Council, which owns the building, had previously said that is "riddled with asbestos", walls were at risk of falling down and the cost of repair work was too expensive.

The report, however, found that while there were "a wide range of defects", most of them were "relatively minor maintenance issues" and renovation work could be completed within three months.