The UK government has given the Southbank Centre in London £10m to help carry out urgent repairs during its 75th anniversary this year. The investment forms part of a £128m funding package, administered and delivered by Arts Council England on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, designed to save 130 culture venues across the UK.
“Great art needs great infrastructure and this vital funding will help us fix leaking roofs, replace failing glazing, and modernise our rigging systems, ensuring our doors stay wide open for the millions of visitors who bring this site to life every year,” said Elaine Bedell, the chief executive of the Southbank Centre, in a LinkedIn post.
A major renovation of the Southbank Centre, which began in 2005, created 35% more capacity in the Royal Festival Hall (the refurbishment was budgeted at £111m but the final cost was £117m). The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery all reopened in 2018 following a two-year refurbishment led by the architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios. The centre has struggled financially in recent years, in part due to the debts accrued during the renovation.
The sizeable £10m award was given as part of the £96m Creative Foundations Fund (CFF) which will benefit 74 arts and culture venues in total including Autograph ABP photography centre in London (£499,950), the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead (Baltic Flour Mills Visual Arts Trust, £3.6m) and Firstsite gallery in Colchester (£995,000).
According to the CFF application guidelines, applicants must state how the projects to be funded will meet “communities’ diverse needs and consider users’ and stakeholders’ input and feedback”; organisations must also provide a “detailed project timetable”.
The government announced two additional funds: the £25.5m Museum Estate and Development Fund—which supports 28 museums including Bristol Museums (£3.6m) and Compton Verney (£794,750)—and the Libraries Improvement Fund which will deliver £6.3m to 28 library services. These three funding strands are part of the first tranche of the government’s Arts Everywhere Fund, a £1.5bn funding package announced earlier this year.
Nicholas Serota, Arts Council England chair, said in a statement: “After significant financial pressures in recent years, this vital investment will help organisations to secure futures where they thrive and not just survive.”
