Sunday, 2 June 2013

Open Day at the refurbished Birchcliffe Centre

More than 500 people turned up to have a look at the refurbished upstairs place at the Birchcliffe Centre on Saturday 1st June.

The historic chapel on Birchcliffe Road had fallen into disrepair but a £500,000 Hertitage Lottery grant has helped turn it into a state of the art community space that will host events and is available for hire.

The 250 capacity performance space, which can double as a learning centre or a conference venue, is run by Pennine Horizon which is part of environmental trust Pennine Heritage.

Paul Clarke told Hebweb: "I visited this space when we were looking at spaces for the Folk Festival and at the time it was, frankly, a mess so to see it now the transformation is amazing. I wanted to have look at the new space as the Arts Festival is putting on Tracey Thorn, June Tabor and Chris Mullin as the centre's first live events later this month, and this new space will be perfect for these events.

"It was great to see so many older people who remember the Birchcliffe in its heyday mixing with families who will also use the venue.

"The best bit is the way they have cleverly integrated the original features like the arched windows and wooden benches with the modern stage area."