£300,000 funding boost for new Ipswich music venue
St Stephen’s Church is due to become a 225-capacity venue
Last updated 3rd Mar 2022
Plans to turn an empty Ipswich church into a vibrant new music venue have secured £300,000 of local grant funding to carry out the necessary upgrades.
Ipswich Borough Council announced plans last month for St Stephen’s Church to become a 225-capacity venue after agreeing a 20-year lease with Out Loud Music, which runs the South Street Studios and Smokehouse venue in town.
Now, it has been confirmed that £300,000 from the Suffolk Inclusive Growth Investment Fund (SIGIF) has been agreed to carry out the upgrade and modernisation works for it to become a community cafe and artistic working space during the day and a venue for the arts by night.
Joe Bailey, director of the new community interest company to run the venue, Sounds East CIC, said: “We are delighted to have received funding from SIGIF and Ipswich Borough Council to bring this visionary project to fruition.
“To have a music venue of this stature in the heart of the town is going to be a real game changer for bands and audiences from Ipswich and further afield.
“This investment ensures that the essential building work can take place including a new fire exit, toilet facilities and repair work through to the production infrastructure including PA system, staging, lighting, cafe and bar.
“We look forward to opening fully early next year and to our series of pop-up events before the summer including our new festival, Brighten The Corners festival, over the Welcome Back Weekend on the 11th and 12th of March.”
The church had previously been home to the Tourist Information Centre until its closure in 2020 as part of the council’s emergency budget plans.
Ipswich Borough Council leader David Ellesmere said: “I’m really pleased we have had this significant vote of confidence in our plans to work with Out Loud Music to turn St Stephens into a new centre for music and creative culture. This is an example of the innovative thinking needed to improve Ipswich by bringing new uses existing buildings which will in turn attract more people into the town centre.”
The venue was brought back into use in the autumn last year as one of the stages for the successful Sound City Ipswich two-day festival, which demonstrated the space could work as a venue.
Some of the work needed includes provision of toilets and sound proofing, as well re-positioning the font, putting in additional electric outputs, and installing new heating.
A spokesperson from Suffolk Growth said: “This is another excellent project that Suffolk Public Sector Leaders have supported with this fund. These innovative projects are making a significant contribution to our economic recovery, with more to be announced across the county later in 2022.
“There has already been great success with the SIGIF funded South Street studio development in Ipswich and the Sound City festival.
“Importantly, the Ipswich Live project is integrated with the Town Deal programme adding further value and will be a key driver of the vibrant music and cultural scene in the town centre.
“We are pleased to be backing a sector that has been hit hard throughout the pandemic to bounce back, respond creatively to the town centre challenges and boost the day and night-time economy, as well as the wider visitor economy.”
The SIGIF was launched by Suffolk Public Sector Leaders and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership to help support economic recovery projects, and has included pledges for retail pods for start-ups in Brandon and Bury St Edmunds, as well as pop-up innovation hubs in Sudbury and Stowmarket among other schemes.