THORNBURY’S Armstrong Hall will be refurbished and reopened, it has been announced today.
The Armstrong Hall Trust, which is responsible for the complex in Chapel Street, has decided to carry out the “refurbishment and renewal” of the existing buildings, including the smaller Cossham Hall, over an alternative option of selling the site and creating a new theatre space at Turnberrie’s Community Centre.
Both the Armstrong Hall and Cossham Hall have been closed since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
The trust, which holds the site on behalf of the people of Thornbury, carried out a year-long appraisal process, involving three volunteer working groups.
Full rebuild rejected
During that time the option to demolish and completely rebuild the Armstrong Hall was ruled out on financial grounds, after a reassessment showed the estimated cost would be up to £10 million.
The same concerns led to plans to build an entire new standalone theatre at Turnberrie’s in Bath Road, which could have cost up to £9.6m, being scaled back.
That left the trust with a straight choice between two alternatives: reopening the existing site as quickly as possible, at an initial cost of around £350,000, and carrying out a “phased refurbishment” – or building a new “flexible performance space” on the side of Turnberrie’s, at a cost of around £2m. This involved taking over the lease of the whole community centre site while selling off the Armstrong Hall complex to fund the project.
Armstrong Hall Trust chair James Murray said: “The Armstrong Hall Trust are happy to announce that following a year-long options appraisal, it has made a decision to facilitate the refurbishment and renewal of the existing Armstrong Hall and Cossham Hall site.”
He said the trust felt the refurbishment and renewal option was “the right option for the town given the current economic climate”.
It will involve three phases of work to “reinstate the town’s main arts asset as quickly as possible”, with the Cossham Hall reopening in the second year of the project: the Turnberrie’s option would not have been ready before 2027.
Mr Murray said: “We are confident that the chosen option will provide the best facility for the town, in the shortest space of time.”
Billionaire family’s donation offer
The refurbishment project was given a welcome boost with the promise of a £350,000 donation from Maggie Lansdown, whose husband Steve is the billionaire co-founder of financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown and owner of Bristol City FC.
During a meeting last week to discuss the options facing the trust, Jill Dimond, a member of the group working on the refurbishment option, read out an email from Mrs Lansdown, whose family has links to the town.
The message said: “We’re happy to give the £350,000.
“Just to be clear, this is only for the Cossham/Armstrong Hall Complex.
“After a suitable time and hopefully positive outcome we will be keen to consider further funding going forward.”
This meant the donation was not being offered to help fund alternative option of building a new venue with 300 retractable seats at Turnberrie’s Community Centre.
During the meeting, attended by more than 100 people, many speakers expressed reservations about the Turnberrie’s plan, which would have involved the trust investing funds raised from the sale of the hall into an asset owned by South Gloucestershire Council.
One resident called for a show of hands in the hall in support of the two venues, with most present supporting Armstrong Hall – and no-one voting for Turnberrie’s.
However the final decision lay in the hands of the trust, which met last night to weigh the options and decide on one of them.
Mr Murray said: “The rigorous options appraisal over the last year, which involved both public and user group consultations, alongside inviting user groups in to the process, has been challenging, emotive and complicated throughout.
“Thanks must go to (project manager) Danny Bonnett for being the brains behind this process & keeping it on track.”
Thornbury Town Council is the sole trustee of the Armstrong Hall Trust, which means all town councillors become members, and the new decision-making process followed the election of a new town council last year.
Mr Murray said: “A new Trust not only needed to be brought up to speed on the work done previously but plan ahead for a much different ‘post-Covid’ world.
“This process involved various teams bringing previous professional services work up to date and also exploring new possibilities that may be available.”
The opening phases of the refurbishment, involving the reopening of the Cossham Hall and foyer area during the first year, followed by the Armstrong Hall in the second year, would cost around £350,000. The entire scheme could cost anywhere between £795,000 and £3.5m, depending on the extent of the work carried out in the later stages.
Now the trust will complete “due diligence” on the chosen plan, Mr Murray said, “ensuring that it will not only be affordable but comply with modern legislation, be fully accessible and have appropriate safeguarding facilities and procedures in place”.
Mr Murray added: “Once this due diligence is complete, our hope is to sign a lease with a user group led charitable organisation who can take the facility to new heights.
“We are fortunate to have been promised a generous donation to the tune of £350,000 to help facilitate this phase of work.
“This money, alongside previously raised donations & the sale of a small trust asset means that we are in a good place to bring the tired building back in to community use.
“We remain confident that a Turnberries-based theatre would have been a viable facility for the town and it will remain a strong ‘plan B’ if the next few months do not go as hoped.
“As chair, I would like to thank not only the user group representatives involved in the process but the trust members for their hard work.
“As a town councillor, you immediately become an Armstrong Hall Trust member, sometimes without a great deal of previous knowledge.
“The hundreds of hours they have given to this role over the last year should not go unnoticed and deserves great thanks.
“We look forward to re-instating a much-missed arts facility in the town as quickly and as effectively as possible.”
Armstrong Hall concept picture (top) by Steve Dimond