Crescent Arts Centre to £4.8M refurbishment

In a further boost to Belfast’s Arts Scene, the Crescent Arts Centre is to receive a major £4.8 million facelift.

The Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure David Hanson said that Government would be contributing up to £2.5 million towards the project.

“The Crescent Arts Centre is unique in Belfast with the vast range of organisations that it houses or facilitates.

“This investment will mean that the Arts Centre will be able to stay in this beautiful Victorian building which is situated in an ideal location. This is more good news for Belfast and puts arts and culture at the heart of city life.”

Mr Hanson pointed out that the project was yet another major step towards the regeneration of the Arts scene in Belfast with £18 million being allocated over the next three years to improving arts venues.

The Minister said that together with the £1.2 million Lottery Funds already committed by the Arts Council and £319,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the £2.5 million in funding represented a "huge step towards realising the Crescent’s goal of a refurbished centre."

Emphasising that the investment in the Crescent Arts Centre was not only about supporting the arts in Belfast, but also about contributing to the economic and social regeneration of the City, the Minister said: “Over the past ten years Belfast has reinvented itself as a modern capital city. Taken together with development plans already announced for the Grand Opera House, the Lyric Theatre and the Ulster Museum this announcement gives a further impetus to the cultural renaissance now underway in the city.”

Rosemary Kelly, Chairman of the Arts Council, praised the Crescent’s role as a neutral venue that had succeeded in bringing together increasing numbers of people from the local communities in south Belfast.

She said: “This is a vital arts resource which has been carefully nurtured over the last 20 years. This major investment, in addition to our year-round financial support, will allow the Crescent to develop its important work in a transformed environment that is fit for purpose and fully accessible.”

Former Assembly Minister Michael McGimpsey welcomed the funding announcement.

In a statement, the UUP South Belfast assembly member said: “This is a very welcome development which will greatly assist in further refurbishment and expansion of services.

“The Crescent Arts Centre provides a number of vital outreach and educational programmes which can release individual creativity, improve self-confidence and, consequently, assist community development.

“Promoting accessibility to the arts and creating a positive environment for creative exchange within the community is a worthy goal which I am pleased to see will be further enhanced following this announcement.”

(SP)