BAC Signs 125-year Lease

and unveils building plans for the future

Last year Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) was threatened with closure but has this week signed a new 125-year lease which will secure its home for the long-term future.  David Jubb and David Micklem the joint artistic directors announced the new lease agreement when they unveiled redevelopment plans for the building (formerly Battersea Town Hall).

This appears as a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the popular south London Fringe. Early last year, it seemed on the brink of closure until Wandsworth Borough Council came to a funding agreement over rental and running cost charges. Members of Wandsworth Council representatives were present at today’s event to emphasise their backing for the Arts Centre, along with Arts Council representative Moira Sinclair, who described the venue as “one of the most important theatres in the UK”.

The directors hope that, over the next few months, they can capitalise on the success of Punchdrunk’s The Masque of the Red Death which finished on 12 April.  The production took over the entire venue for an extended, sell-out run, which attracted an audience of more than 45,000 people over nine months.

Jubb told the audience that during the Punchdrunk’s production the venue was used as a “playground” for its artists and audiences. As well as staging performances from visiting companies, he aims for the venue to become a “true home” for its artists by providing them with accommodation during the course of their rehearsal periods and performances.

Facilities to sleep 24 people are included in the new development plans, which are being overseen by Steve Tompkins, the architect behind the Young Vic’s recent £12.45 million redevelopment.

Tompkins said he hoped to work with BAC artists to create a “21st-century performance space in a 19th-century town hall”. Battersea’s redevelopment is made possible by a generous uplift in its regular funding from the Arts Council. In ACE’s latest, controversial funding round, BAC was one of the big winners, seeing its annual subsidy rise from just under £500,000 to £635,000 for 2008/9.

Programming-wise, the next BAC highlight is the annual BURST festival of “Theatre, Music and Play”, which runs at BAC from 8 to 24 May 2008. This year the festival features over 30 companies from three continents, who will be performing across all areas of the building, from the Grand Hall to the crypt.

April 24, 2008