Culture hub set to open after major revamp

49 minutes ago

Federica Bedendo,North East and Cumbriaand

Ed Hanson,in Maryport

News image — The Carlton's bar and cafe area is due to open in mid-September with art events following in the autumn

Tom Kay Photographic The Carlton cinema seen from the front of the building. The building is made of two main sections. The left side is an 1830s three-storey building painted white with some black detailing, including the sash windows. Around the windows are some decorations such as arches. At the top of the building there is a roof terrace surrounded by a black fence. The section on the right is a metal sage green building on one level, with a tall pitch roof. It has a large window and entrance at the front and the name of the building across the top. — The Carlton's bar and cafe area is due to open in mid-September with art events following in the autumn

A building that stood empty for years is due to open as a culture hub after a multimillion-pound redevelopment.

Businesses in Maryport were given a sneak peek of The Carlton this week, a former cinema and bank built in the 1830s in the heart of the conservation area.

The building's bar and cafe area is scheduled to open in mid-September, with events expected to be scheduled from autumn, according to Cumberland Council, which is leading the project.

The opening was initially planned for summer 2024, but delays were blamed on changes to the initial design of the 280-seater performance space on the ground floor.

The leader of the Labour-led council, Mark Fryer, said: "The venue size itself, the community wanted it bigger.

"We spoke and sat down with the community interest company people and the business community and increased the size of that, which obviously caused a lot of redesign, a lot of change in prices - but it's been real positive."

Tom Kay Photographic Catherine Eve with three men, members of Maryport Horizons, which will manage the venue. They are standing in the empty performance area inside the Carlton. The walls, ceiling and floor are completely black, with some spotlights — The size of the auditorium was increased, causing delays to the initial opening schedule

Maryport Horizons, a community interest company, is in charge of running the venue, which also features office and exhibition space on the upper floors.

Director Catherine Eve said having a building "as iconic as the Carlton" in the centre of town would bring more people to Maryport.

She said: "Maryport is an amazing town, it has so much to offer both to local people and to visitors.

"I think we've kind of been bucking the trend a little bit, we already have a lot of new businesses who've started up in the last couple of years, we're all very supportive of one another."

Tom Kay Photographic The top floor of the refurbished Carlton in Maryport. The empty room has white floors, walls and a high ceiling, with a steel beam supporting an original section of the brick wall, from about head height to the ceiling. There are five windows letting light into the room. — The building will feature office space, to be rented out to tenants

Maryport has been undergoing a £12m regeneration with funding from the government and the council, among others.

The appearance of The Carlton's entrance, which is a modern extension to the original building, attracted criticism by other business owners when it was built, likening it to a "tin shed".

It came after a number of shops on Senhouse Street were fined for alterations not in keeping with the conservation area.

However, other businesses praised the success of the regeneration, with empty units being filled by new traders and once derelict buildings brought back into use.

Work funded by the project included building a new cafe and skate park on the promenade, a new play area and events space by the marina and refurbishing a building on Shipping Brow to turn it into an art gallery.

Christ Church, a once dilapidated building by the harbour, has also been refurbished and is due to reopen as the town's maritime museum, though a date is yet to be announced.

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Cumbria on BBC Sounds.