A new team created to preserve Oldham Coliseum's legacy are set to be given the keys to the town's new £24.5m theatre. There was heartbreak across Greater Manchester when the historic theatre's closure was confirmed in March, following an announcement last November that the Coliseum would no longer be part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
But town hall bosses unveiled plans for a new theatre to replace the iconic Coliseum earlier this year. Now, the new Oldham Coliseum board of trustees has been chosen as the anchor tenant for the town's new performing arts venue.
Oldham Council hopes the new theatre, on Greaves Street, will be open in 2026. Ahead of the development, the Oldham Coliseum Board will sit on the council's Performance Space Partnership Board, and it has supported the local authority's proposal to Arts Council England for a £1.84m funding package to support a cultural programme until the new theatre's launch.
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In a statement, chair of trustees Duncan Craig OBE said: "We’ve started considering how a new venue could operate in Oldham - how we could commission and produce new work and how we could collaborate with other arts organisations and community groups. Watch this space (I think it’s pretty damn exciting as there’s so many opportunities)!
"There is still the cultural programme to map out and once the funding is confirmed we’re pretty sure that many discussions will be had and we’ll be part of those discussions with other key stakeholders, and when we know then we’ll announce what part we will play in that offer." The new board was announced on March 23 to oversee the old Coliseum's closure and safeguard the future of arts and culture in Oldham.
The council's plans - first revealed in February - are for an auditorium with 300 to 350 seats, a 120-seat studio, plus event and rehearsal spaces. Chris Lawson, interim chief executive at Oldham Council, said at the time: "We continue to support the development of a new theatre for Oldham, which we had hoped could be a new home for Oldham Coliseum.
“Oldham deserves a good quality theatre that produces and presents new work for local and visiting audiences. The current theatre building does not offer the space or facilities needed for a modern theatre."
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