Theatre in limelight with facelift scheme

REFURBISHMENT TO INCLUDE NEW SEATING AND LICK OF PAINT

THE Lawrence Batley Theatre is to undergo a huge face lift, new plans reveal.

Despite more than a year without any income from performances, bosses of the Huddersfield facility have unveiled proposals to refurbish most of the inside spaces used by the public.

They include all new seating for the main auditorium, revamped toilets, and a lick of paint for all areas seen by customers.

Plans submitted to Kirklees Council say minor building work will see two walls from a 1990s extension removed to create a new accessible dressing room for disabled performers.

They say: “The works are required to bring the facilities of the theatre up to more modern standards of accessibility and to replace finishes that are beyond their service life.

“All of the works to be carried out are treating the historic nature of the building sensitively and will cause no impact to the heritage asset.

“None of these internal works will impact on the historical nature of the building. The works will therefore preserve and enhance the heritage asset by providing the theatre with better facilities without impacting on any of the heritage features of the building.” The LBT is a Grade 2 listed building. Originally it was a Methodist church before being converted into an arts centre in the 1970s.

It has also been a squash centre and hosted the Catacombs disco nights from 1978.

It formally became the LBT in 1994, named after the famous philanthropist and founder of Batley’s cash and carry, who helped to fund it.

Theatres have been told they will be able to reopen with reduced capacity from May 17 if the third stage of the roadmap out of lockdown is agreed. Full capacity is expected no earlier than June 21.