£295,000 revamp planned for city centre arts venue
Bradford arts hub, Kala Sangam, has revealed plans for a major capital redevelopment of its city centre building.
The ambitious plans will see the company take over the ground floor of the building, putting in a 200-seat theatre, creating four new studio spaces, opening up a prominent front entrance and installing a new lift to give access to all floors.
Building works are planned to start in January 2024 and the centre should reopen in 2025 as a milestone in Bradford’s City of Culture programme.
A Kala Sangam spokesman said: “We are delighted to have received £295,758 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to begin the development phase of this project.
“This funding will enable us to secure planning permission and support us in the creation of an archive celebrating our 30 year history.
“Funding will also support us to employ our new Head of Community Engagement to work with communities in the city to explore their own heritage, and that of the building, and empower those communities to co-programme and shape our future delivery.”
Kala Sangam has been successful in securing an increase in its regular funding from Arts Council England and will receive £362,000 a year for the next three years, starting in April 2023.
This additional backing will allow the organisation to programme more dance, theatre, music and poetry and increase its support for artists.
Alex Croft, creative director, said: “Each of these funding awards will be transformational for this organisation, and is a result of five years of incredibly hard work by our brilliant staff team.
“The increase in our regular funding from Arts Council England will enable us to support more artists in Bradford, have a greater role in developing South Asian art forms locally and nationally, welcome larger audiences and play a bigger role in Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations.
“It is also incredibly exciting to that we are able to begin making our capital redevelopment plans a reality thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.”
The organisation is working with Ilkley-based architectural practive, Halliday Clark, on the plans for its building redevelopment.
Richard Walsh, director at Halliday Clark, said: “We’re pleased to be contributing a modern chapter to the rich history of this building, creating healthy shared spaces and functions which speak for our time, and the people who will use them.
“The redevelopment at Kala Sangam will enhance connections both literal and symbolic, strengthening links to the city and the Cathedral Conservation area as well as with the community, and our shared culture and heritage.”
