Swan Theatre to remain open

The city’s main theatre will be staying put as multi-million-pound plans to create a new performing arts venue move forward.

The 58-year-old theatre was expected to be sold to help pay for the multi-million-pound regeneration of the Scala and Corne Exchange buildings but that move has been abandoned.

Worcester Theatres, which runs the 350-seat Swan Theatre as well as the city’s Huntingdon Hall, was also due to make the Scala Theatre its new headquarters – but that plan has also been scrapped.

A spokesperson for Worcester Theatres said:

“We are very happy in our current home and will continue to run both the Swan Theatre and Huntingdon Hall for the foreseeable future, bringing a fantastic varied programme of events to Worcester’s city centre.

“While we will not have a role in operating the new Scala venue, we are very pleased the project is continuing to develop and look forward to seeing how the space will be designed and operated as a new arts venue accessible to everyone.

“Perhaps one day even our Worcester Repertory Company may be able to perform there, but of course until more plans are revealed it is difficult to say.”

The city council’s plans for the Scala Theatre and the northern side of the city centre have been revised several times since nearly £18 million was awarded by the government in 2020 – with spiralling costs forcing grand plans for a new 500-seat theatre to be dropped.

Worcester City Council revealed plans to build a new ‘flexible’ performing arts venue at the listed Scala Theatre in Worcester had risen to £13 million – almost double the £7 million it was expected to cost three years ago.

The council was forced to scrap a move to turn the former theatre in Angel Place into a 500-seat venue after costs spiralled out of control – and is now working on different plans for the grade II listed building.

The city was given nearly £18m by the government in 2020 to regenerate the northern side of the city centre as part of the Future High Streets Fund – including more than £7 million to renovate and re-open the listed Scala Theatre and neighbouring Corn Exchange building as a new theatre.

Two years later spiralling construction costs meant that much of the city council’s vision for Angel Place and the surrounding area had to be scrapped so more money could be pumped into the cornerstone Scala work.

This summer the council doubled down and agreed to carry on with the work – despite concerns about rising costs – with plans for a 500-seat theatre abandoned in favour of a smaller ‘flexible’ performing arts venue.

Two years ago, Sarah-Jane Morgan, chief executive of Worcester Theatres, announced the switch from the Swan to the Scala saying the “fabulous new cultural venue” coming to the city was a chance to develop “ambitious plans for the future” and move into a venue that was “future-proofed for decades to come.”