Save Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Save Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Why this petition matters
Unfortunately the Oldham Coliseum closed its doors at the end of March 2023. The keys were handed back to Oldham Council who own the building, and all equipment and the seats, even the curtain has been removed and dispersed, mostly to other theatres. It is a crushing end to a great theatre, which is a rare treasure and one of the oldest theatres in the country, from 1887.
Oldham Coliseum was the font of many fine actors, and nurtured young talent through its theatre productions, and by providing a stage for Oldham Theatre Workshop.
Many famous names have trodden the boards, such as Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, Minnie Driver, Maxine Peake, Ralph Fiennes, Dame Thora Hird, Anne Kirkbride, Eric Sykes, Suranne Jones, Anna Friel, Sarah Lancashire etc.
Also the Coliseum pantomime attracted audiences of 35k a year.
How did its downfall occur?
The final straw was the Arts Council England (ACE) withdrawing funding, £1.6m which they were relying on for the next 3 years. ACE deemed the Coliseums proposal 'high risk' as they deemed the management of the Coliseum to be lacking, allegedly. However all the management has long since changed, since the devastating decision.
Instead of giving the funding to the Coliseum, ACE allocated it to Oldham Council to 'support creative and cultural activity in the borough over the next three years'.
Why would the ACE decide to sign the death warrant of significant historic theatre? I cannot help but think they may have been influenced by former Council Leader Amanda Chadderton's unsubstantiated claims about the state of the building- “It is riddled with asbestos, the walls are falling down and we have done another survey recently and there is a litany of problems.” (See article below). This claim was repeated by the official Oldham Council Twitter account, which, in response to a question about keeping the current building, replied: “It’s not an option unfortunately. The theatre is at the end of its life..it is riddled with asbestos''.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/23354803.amp/
These comments are exaggerations to put it mildly, which can be appreciated by reading the building surveys from 2019 and January 2023. The 2023 survey says the repairs and maintenance will cost in the region of £366k 2023-2026, and the 2019 survey estimated maintenance would cost £753k over the next 10 years (to 2029).
The summary of the 2023 report said that of this, the 'urgent' matters would cost an estimated £52500 to fix.
This is a lot cheaper than the cost of the proposed new theatre, £24.4million.
Specialist theatre consultants, Plann, also produced a survey for the new board of the Oldham Coliseum, which concluded that the costs in the 2023 survey were "reasonable...if the aim were to maintain the theatre indefinitely", and that other than upgrading fire doors, "there is nothing we feel would fundamentally stop the building from reopening".
If this was The Old Vic, The Palladium, The Royal Opera House etc in London, there is no chance they would be told by their Council that as historic buildings their upkeep is too expensive and they must be abandoned.
The summary, on page 4 of the 2019 report, says
'The majority of the building services systems at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre have been found to be in a reasonable condition when considering the type and age of the property...The building has undergone refurbishment works within the past 7 years. The majority of the electrical and mechanical systems appear to have been replaced...The fabric of the main building is in a reasonable condition for its type...'
This is as close to a resounding endorsement of the buildings fitness for purpose and sustainability for the future as a building survey would ever give.
A refurbishment in 2012 left the venue looking fantastic, with new plush seats and a new box office.
Also, regarding the asbestos, the summary, on page 4 of the 2019 report, says 'the in-situ sealed asbestos installations in their present undisturbed state, present no risk to the building occupants', and that there is 'a complete and up to date asbestos management plan...with re-inspections being undertaken by the Unity Partnership on a 12 monthly basis'.
The proposed replacement theatre, at the eye watering cost of £24million, is more of a school hall than a theatre. It is very small, not even very accessible, and not fit for purpose unfortunately. It has less than 300 seats, rather than 585 which the Coliseum had
Please everyone send a strong message to Oldham Council that we deserve better than this, by objecting to the planning application for the new 'postage stamp' sized theatre, at the below link-
It is terrible for the disabled- there is no ground floor 'changing places' disabled toilet (which would be required if it had 350 seats or more), and only 1 lift.
It cannot house the popular yearly Pantomime, which attracts audiences of around 35,000, and is by far the most popular and profitable production of the year. The stage is too small, and it has no fly tower. The Architects of the new Coliseum do not even mention it hosting the Pantomime, they say it will put on a 'Christmas Show'.
The cramped performance space on offer is no suitable replacement theatre. It is basically a cafe and bar with a small theatre attached. The bar would be popular during performances, but there is no need for a cafe in this location- the cafe at Gallery Oldham, and at Sainsbury's, both closed due to lack of custom.
The new theatre will also mean the demolition of 1 listed building- the old museum, and just retaining the facades of 2 others, the Friends Meeting House and former post office- all of which are currently serving useful purposes, and don't need to be knocked around.
The cost of the new building is also exorbitant, far outweighing the cost of maintaining or even improving the existing building, at £24million. This will all come from public funds. Is this a good use of such limited resources?
The new Coliseum, if it passes planning, is supposed to be complete in 2026.
Planning permission documents-
However it will probably never happen. Previous plans to build a new theatre have been shelved twice, most recently in 2018, due to funding issues:
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/oldham-coliseum-council-theatre-southgate-15389881?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
If there are enough objections to planning maybe Oldham Council might change their mind and decide to reopen the beautiful old building?
It was fit for purpose, and structurally sound, as the latest surveys show. It just needs a bit of TLC.
I am part of a group which is committed to getting it reopened, 'Save Oldham Coliseum' headed by Julie Hesmondhalgh the actor (of Coronation Street and Mr Bates Vs The Post Office). Please donate to our crowdfunder at the link below. We need to raise money for PR to build momentum for our cause.
Please check out our website for more updates:
https://www.saveoldhamcoliseum.org/about
Thank you for reading.
