Everything we know about plans for Oldham Coliseum revamp

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The Oldham Coliseum has been saved. But there is much work to be completed before the 139-year-old theatre is ready to open its doors for the 2025 Panto season.

Oldham council has officially agreed to a £10m investment into the venue, which closed its doors in March 2023 after losing its funding from Arts Council England.

At a cabinet meeting on Monday (July 16), council leader Arooj Shah promised to mobilise a 'major refurbishment program' to bring the much-loved theatre back into working order, following an announcement last week that the building on Fairbottom Street would once again become the home of the Coliseum. READ MORE: Residents of Manchester's tallest building are furious over plans to build 'dog spa' skyscraper next door But that's no enviable task, with some 'major maintenance works' needed before the venue can pass health and safety checks.

The first priorities will be fixing structural issues, including the removal of the remaining asbestos in the building. Some of the asbestos was removed in a 2012 refurbishment, but remaining amounts of the dangerous material still pose a risk if damaged during the refurbishment works.