The scaffolding that has covered one of Harrogate’s most-loved historical landmarks for almost a year will be coming down from this weekend.
Harrogate Theatre was in need of a huge, £1 million restoration on its roof. The works were initially meant to be completed last September but covid delays and bad weather meant they were only finished last month.
As a council-owned building, the project has been run in conjunction with Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate Theatre Trust.
Now that additional works to the building on Oxford Street have been completed, Harrogate Borough Council has confirmed the scaffolding will be dismantled from this weekend.
The scaffolding on Oxford Street will come down first with the rest on Cheltenham Parade coming down towards the end of the month.
A council spokesperson said:
“Like any heritage building of this age, the investment project at Harrogate Theatre has been complex and faced a number of challenges. Not least, material and labour shortages – impacted by Covid-19 and isolation requirements – as well as the numerous storms in the last few months.
“During the removal of the scaffolding, final work will take place to re-point brickwork, re-glaze the canopy above the front entrance, along with decoration to the windows and the shop frontages.”
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The renovations haven’t been without their challenges, during stormy weather in November and February the theatre had to close and cancel performances. In November, the theatre had to cancel a full weekend of its pantomime performances due to a leak and again in February, the final performance of Kinky Boots was cancelled after a second leak.
There was also an incident in January where three young teens scaled the roof and caused £800 damage.
Despite all the ongoing works the theatre has continued to stage multiple productions including its annual pantomime.
It is not clear if the delays have caused the £1 million restoration fee to increase.