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Major Refurbishment Project for Paxton Suite
17 July 2008
High Peak Borough Council and Buxton Opera House have announced exciting plans to transform the rundown Paxton Suite in Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens into a refurbished arts and events venue for the town.
The new £1.7 million venue – to be known as the Pavilion Arts Centre – will be a flexible multi-user venue, suitable for large and small performances, workshop and participatory activities, conferences, meetings and lectures, and a wide programme of fairs and other events and attractions. It will consist of a 100-seat studio theatre (the Opera House’s “Children’s Theatre”) on the stage of the Paxton Suite, and 367 seats in the main auditorium. The two will be separated by a removable soundproof partition, so that for certain events both spaces can be used at the same time, or – with the studio seats retracted into the wings and the partition out – the new venue can serve as a 367-seat auditorium, ideal as a complement to the Opera House during the Buxton Festival and Gilbert & Sullivan Festival seasons.
In the main body of the Paxton Suite the current false ceiling will be removed, exposing the original vaulted roof, and the the balcony will be reinstated, along with its 160 seats. On the ground floor a single level will be created out of the current two, and there will be retractable seating for 207, which can slide away to create a large flat-floor space for workshops, meetings, fairs and other events. The ground floor will be partitioned off under the balcony to create a small bar and foyer area for the new venue.
As well as housing the Opera House’s Children’s Theatre programme, plus the Summer Festival and Fringe programme, and all of the events which currently take place in the Paxton Suite, the new arts centre will also hopefully act as a part-time lecture hall for the University of Derby Buxton, and as a venue for a range of new small-scale conferences in the town, and both the studio and main auditorium will be available for a host of community uses and community hires throughout the year. The range of potential uses is the result of a large consultation process with local stakeholders, interested parties and members of the public.
The project is currently the subject of an application to Derby & Derbyshire Economic Partnership (DDEP) for half of the £1.7 million cost. A decision is expected from DDEP by the end of September, and much of the 50% matching funding required is already in place. The Opera House is also continuing with its appeal to raise funds for the “Children’s Theatre” element of the project. The anticipated three-month capital project will take place either immediately before or after the summer 2009 festival season, and will dovetail perfectly from the Council’s £500,000 refurbishment, in Spring 09, of the restaurant and café areas, incorporating a new TIC, retail space and ice cream parlour.
Opera House chief executive Andrew Aughton said: “I am delighted that the Children’s Studio Theatre project, which we have been planning for so many years, and which will still go ahead as planned, has led to this hugely exciting and much larger partnership project with the Borough Council. As well as fulfilling all the Opera House’s ambitions for an expanded programme for children, teenagers and families, it also opens up an enormous range of possibilities for everybody else interested in using the Paxton Suite – the Council, the university, local community and arts groups, conference organisers and many more. I am certain the new arts centre will be a fantastic development for the community, and for arts and events in Buxton”.
Tony Kemp, HPBC Executive Councillor for Regeneration, said: “I am confident we will obtain the necessary funding for this exciting project, which will be a major step in the ongoing restoration and development work at the Pavilion Gardens. The refurbishment of the Paxton Theatre to its original glory, but with a modern take on the facilities available will make it a venue of which local people can be really proud and an asset to the community. I think what is also really encouraging is that the project builds on the valuable partnership between the Opera House and the Council to keep our town’s historic buildings in the uses for which they were intended. The opportunity to bring the University into the partnership is equally exciting, as it helps us to build on a theme to encourage young people to make more use of these heritage buildings, in the new auditorium, the Children’s Theatre and also by following our new plant “trail” in the Conservatory.”