£5m funding recommended to support £14m Playhouse redevelopment

WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE will receive £4.9m in bridge funding from Leeds City Council if recommendations by the director of city development, Martin Farrington, are approved next week.

The theatre is seeking £14.1m funding to revamp its Quarry Hill site, which opened in 1990.

It will contribute £2.5m from its reserves and fundraising and has submitted a revised bid for £6.6m to the Arts Council, which wishes to keep its investment to 47% of the total required..

Previous applications for funding to the Arts Council National Lottery were unsuccessful due to a “lack of robust and secure partnership funds.”

That would leave a projected funding gap of £4.9m, although council officers expect this could be reduced because as much as £1.5m would be recoverable through VAT claims.

Of the funding gap, £586,000 has already been put into the capital programme as part of a package of improvements to the entrance of the Playhouse. 

In recommending the funding in a report to Leeds City Council’s executive board, Mr Farrington said: “A contribution to the capital investment requirements of West Yorkshire Playhouse has the potential to lever significant funds from Arts Council England and to secure a resilient and sustainable future for the organisation. This in turn would contribute to the well-being of the city’s residents and to Leeds’ bid to be European Capital of Culture 2023.”

Sir Rodney Brooke, CBE, Chair of West Yorkshire Playhouse Board of Governors said:”We welcome the possibility of the future partnership with Leeds City Council.

“The proposed contribution of £4.9 million would mean that we will be in a strong position to move forward with our plans to access external funding principally from Arts Council England and through our on-going fundraising.”