THE Citadel team will be moving into the offices of the Heart of Glass, in a collaboration to ensure family and young people’s theatre has a home in St Helens following the news of the venue's closure.
Bosses revealed earlier this month that The Citadel on Waterloo Street, which was opened in April 1988, will close on June 30 this year.
It is not yet known what will happen with the building, however, the Citadel charity's activities will continue by working alongside the Heart of Glass to develop a programme of activities for young people and families.
Fay Lamb, CEO of The Citadel, said: “The Citadel has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of public support we have received since announcing the closure of the Citadel Arts Centre building.
"We are looking forward to continuing our work with Heart of Glass, and St Helens arts sector, as we embark on this exciting new phase of development for the Citadel Charity which will take our work with children, young people and families out to the public.
"We share Heart of Glass’ ambition to re-imagine the town of St Helens as the Arts Centre”.
Patrick Fox, Director, Heart of Glass, added: “The Citadel is a key part of the cultural ecology of St Helens, its history speaks for itself.
"In recent years we’ve been delighted to partner with the team there to host events and bring some incredible theatre to St Helens through collaboration with producers such as Live Art Development Agency, Scottee and Turned on Its Head.
"The news of the building’s closure is terribly sad. The Citadel have responded to the challenges faced by regional theatres up and down the country with bravery and resilience.
"We fully support its strategy to continue in a new form and develop an offer for the Borough featuring the best practitioners in the field and bringing unique and quality work to audiences in a range of different spaces.
"We strongly believe that every community should have a stage, and we applaud the Citadel’s commitment to continue and find a new form and new stages. We look forward to the journey.”
For more information go to citadel.org.uk or heartofglass.org.uk
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