Major building works are finally underway to repair and restore the missing ‘heartbeat’ of Oswaldtwistle, three years after its primary cultural venue was forced to shut its doors.
The town’s Civic Arts Centre and Theatre had been run as a community hub for around 13 years when, in 2023, financial difficulties caused the charity running it to enter into liquidation.
Hyndburn Arts Ltd cited poor ticket sales, the ‘imminent risk of larger repairs’, and the loss of around £45,000 in funding from events funded by Hyndburn Borough Council as the reason they were forced to fold.
Residents at the time described this as a ‘huge loss’, with the theatre serving as ‘the heartbeat of Oswaldtwistle’ for more than 150 years. But the essential renovations to fix the serious issues affecting the cultural centre’s roof have taken some time to begin.
Despite delays in the repair work beginning, with an initial start date of July last year coming and going, a decision to award a £350,000 contract to local firm Rosslee Construction in January has seen the site’s renovation finally begin.
People passing the building in the past few weeks will have noticed scaffolding being erected to the side of the theatre on Lord Street, where a road closure and diversion are in place as work gets underway.
In total, the authority has allocated £617,000 of funding to bring the venue back into working order. Of this, £370,000 has been set aside for just the roof repairs.
The council has stated that, while work is now visibly underway to restore the outside of the building, residents can also expect some major upgrades on the inside of the community hub.
A full internal survey is expected to be carried out in the coming weeks to establish how resources can be best used to get the historic building up and running again, with work on repairing the roof expected to be completed ‘around the New Year.’
Leader of Hyndburn Council, Councillor Munsif Dad, said: “I am delighted to hear of the progress being made at Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre, which has been a significant part of the cultural scene in Hyndburn for generations.
“This council have always been committed to ensuring the future viability of this historic building, which is why we committed £500,000 to safeguard it’s future.
“I am just as eager as our residents to see the building back open to the public and ready to serve as a community hub for years to come.”
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