Centre ‘must stay as leading venue’

HARROGATE: A major overhaul of the town’s convention centre to ensure the venue is in the UK’s “top tier” of conference facilities could be on the way if £1m in funding is approved.

Harrogate Borough Council’s Cabinet has shown its support for initial design costs for the project, which is forecast to cost £47m once completed.

A MAJOR overhaul of Harrogate Convention Centre to ensure the venue is at the UK’s “top tier” of conferencing facilities could be on the way if £1m in funding is approved.

Harrogate Borough Council’s cabinet has shown its support for initial design costs for the project, which is forecast to cost £47m once it is completed.

Directors at the 40-year-old venue, which is currently being used as an NHS Nightingale hospital and could remain on standby until March, have warned there is a “very real risk” it may not survive without investment.

Harrogate Convention Centre (HCC) is forecast to lose £710,000 in 2019/20 alone, having lost £829,956 in the five financial years prior.

Centre director Paula Lorimer said the works would “reinvigorate” the site and she will seek approval of the £1m from an extraordinary full council meeting on Wednesday next week.

She said: “My ambition is for us to return to the top tier of conference and exhibition centres in the UK.”

She told cabinet members at the borough council that the district’s economy would suffer without the upgrades.

Ms Lorimer said: “We need a successful HCC. I believe we can do better with the right investment – and that investment needs to happen now.

“The town will wither on the vine – I believe – if we do not have a HCC. While I’m proud to have a Nightingale hospital and of our contribution, I think we are having a real feel of what it could be like if we didn’t have the HCC.”

At a meeting in December, councillors were told the centre’s finances were “worsening”.

Members of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee had also flagged up worries when a report revealed the centre’s lettings were “significantly under target”.

The council has already invested more than £4.3m in the centre since 2014. Ms Lorimer said the planned upgrades are needed to compete with other venues including a new £260m conference centre in Gateshead.

The council estimates the HCC attracts about 157,000 visitors each year. It had previously estimated the centre’s impact on the local economy to be £60m – but this is now thought to be £35m.

Ms Lorimer said this could be increased with the investments after the centre is handed back over to businesses from the NHS, which is not paying any rent.

She also said the upgrades could halve utility costs, with bills expected to reach £19m over the next 20 years.

Plans for the rebuild could involve three exhibition halls being demolished to make way for a new 54,000 sq ft hall and a revamped auditorium.

The council would need about £20m to construct the first phase of the redevelopment, with another phase later. It is hoping to find grants to cover the costs.

The town will wither on the vine – I believe – if we do not have a HCC.

Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre.