Plans to build a new theatre and concert venue in Swindon town centre are moving forward.
Staff from Swindon Borough Council will be able to spend up to £40,000 on getting specialist advice as they talk to potential operators for the venue.
Last night, members of the authority’s ruling Labour cabinet approved a plan to allow continued work and approved using the current site of the town’s bus station in Kimmerfields, which is due to be cleared next year.
Council leader Councillor Jim Robbins said: “I’m excited to be bringing this forward, this could be the first part of the Heart of Swindon vision to be delivered.
“I don’t think anyone will miss the bus station when the Bus Boulevard opens. If we can knock it down and put something better in its place that will be welcomed by everyone.
Although work is at an early stage, it’s clear that a construction method similar to the Abba Voyage Arena in east London is a favoured option.
Known as a ‘modern construction’ the arena is modular, mostly built offsite and assembled in situ and can be demounted and moved elsewhere if necessary.
The cabinet member for finance Councillor Kevin Small said: “We visited the Abba Arena and when you go inside you wouldn’t know it isn’t a traditional brick-built theatre.”
He added: “The people of Swindon have been saying the town needs a bigger theatre for a long time.”
Cllr Robbins has previously said that the council believes such a building can be put up for around £15m.
The cabinet member for culture Councillor Marina Strinkovsky said: “This would be only the second completed ‘modern construction; outside of London. This is another sign that Swindon isn’t copying other places, it isn’t aspiring to be like somewhere else. This is a theatre for the post-Covid, post-Amazon, post-Doordash world.”
Cllr Robbins said: “We need to get on with it and put a plan in place.”
The reason for the urgency is that the Wyvern Theatre is nearing the end of its life, and in particular because the concrete at its base needs restoration work.
Although Cllr Robbins was at pains to point out it was not in any danger and that the plan was to keep the theatre for other uses, possibly as a venue for the Wilkes Performing Arts Academy, after the new venue was built.
The council says that the theatre is too small, in any case, at 600 seats and cannot attract the larger national touring shows and acts that the new theatre will be designed to be able to hold.
Cllr Robbins gave the current touring production of the hip-hop musical Hamilton as an example of the type of show the council might hope to attract.
The Wyvern Theatre is expected to close by 2027 and Cllr Robbins has said he wants the new theatre to be open before the current venue closes.
He also said previously that he believes it can be open before the rebuilt Oasis centre is opened, and both the council and the owners of the Oasis Seven Capital have said that they are aiming to have the new leisure centre in operation in 2026, the 50th anniversary of its initial opening.
The bus station site is expected to become redundant next year when the works to Fleming Way are completed and it re-opens as a public transport hub.
Leader of the opposition Conservative group Councillor Gary Sumner was not at the cabinet meeting but later queried the use of money, money, money.
He said: “While we support the principle, the LGA Peer review said the financial threat to the council could be existential.
“Is this the right moment to be heading into more borrowing for something the private sector could deliver if it is so viable?”
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