The Stage

Watford Palace announces reopening after second donation and loan

Published Tuesday 15 June 2004 at 10:50 by Jeremy Austin

Watford Palace Theatre has announced its revised opening date following the awarding of an interest-free loan from Watford Borough Council to cover escalating costs and a further donation of £100,000 from an anonymous benefactor.

The refurbishment was due to be completed on November last year but work ran into unexpected delays that have increased the projected £7.3 million cost. Now the venue has announced it will reopen on October 8, with a special gala performance. Councillors have agreed to loan £275,000 to the theatre, significantly less than the £500,000 hoped for.

The benefactor, who kick-started the refurbishment with a £1 million donation in April, 2002, has given £100,000. There has also been money donated by a charitable trust and the venue will continue with its seat-naming and corporate and personal donations.

Artistic director Lawrence Till said: “It is thanks to the support and generosity of so many people that we are on course to start producing work at the theatre again. The Palace Theatre can now plan its return to the heart of the community and looks forward to welcoming audiences back into the building.”

Delays and the overspend have been caused by a variety of factors at the Edwardian venue, not least of which was the discovery of a network of Victorian drains that had to be covered and worked around before work could continue. A hoped-for joint application by the theatre and the borough council to the East of England Development Agency to regenerate the area around the Palace failed to net any additional funding, leaving a council loan the only option.

Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said: “The refurbishment has been a huge undertaking and we are now set to enjoy the rewards. I am delighted the theatre will be re-opening in October and am really looking forward to the first night when I can raise a glass and toast the future. Watford is very lucky to have a producing theatre in the town and it now falls to all of us to get behind it and support it.”