News Arts Centre green light
One of the most exciting projects in Goole's history looks like coming to fruition.
A £2.3 million entertainment and arts building off Paradise Place has been in the offing for a number of years but it was feared the project might not attract enough financial backing.
Now it appears the money is in the bag and plans for a new state-of-the-art building - which would also house the Goole Town Council offices - looks like it can now go ahead.
The new building would be built behind the Victorian Market Hall where the new market-trading building currently stands.
The plan is to bulldoze the new market centre and build a new one housing a 170-seat theatre, a cinema, cafe bar, performance workshops, artists' studios, council offices, community rooms and a new council chamber.
Brian Robertson, clerk to Goole Town Council, said this week that the East Riding of Yorkshire Council had received a conditional offer of just over £1.7 million from the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.
The £1.7 million conditionally offered by the agency is seen as the last piece in the jigsaw before the £2.36 million project can go ahead.
The money has been given to East Riding Council, which will then sub-contract the construction project to Goole Town Council.
Mr Robertson said: "The last funding package has been conditionally offered by Yorkshire Forward - just over £1.7 million."
He added: "This is the kind of urban renaissance project which will hopefully be the catalyst for other projects in the area. It's one of the most exciting developments we have seen in Goole."
He said the new theatre would be much bigger than the current council-run playhouse, The Gate, which holds just 80 people.
Traders in the new market centre have been given four weeks' notice to vacate the area in preparation for demolition of the building, which has been scheduled for September 1.
The nine traders, who will all be transferred to the Victorian Market Hall next-door, have been told they must vacate their current premises by August 2.
The notice was issued to the traders last Wednesday, July 2.
"All of them will be transferred to the Victorian Hall in preparation for the demolition of the building," said Mr Robertson.
"We need to clear away all the existing market stalls because that's not part of the contract for the new building, which is why we need them out by August 2, the last trading date."
He added: "If all goes to plan the [demolition team] will be on site on September 1."
Mr Robertson said there were things that needed tying up before that time, namely a formal contract agreement between the East Riding and Yorkshire Forward.
"The East Riding will then sub-contract with us for delivery of the new centre," he said.
The total estimated cost of the construction project is £2.36 million. To fund the new building, Goole Town Council plans to sell its existing building on Gladstone Terrace.
Published on 10th July 2008 in News.
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