Closed theatre given lifeline with £3m loan agreement

Yeovil's Octagon Theatre has been closed since 2023

A much-loved theatre which has been closed for more than two years may now be refurbished and reopen by 2029, after a £3.3m loan was agreed.

Yeovil Town councillors voted on Wednesday evening to take out the borrowing towards the redevelopment of the Octagon Theatre.

It had been looking to ask local people to pay more council tax to cover the loan repayments, but instead councillors agreed to look at alternative funding streams to pay it back.

A public consultation over the summer found a slim majority were in favour of the refurbishment - but against their bills going up.

Yeovil Town Council said it hoped the theatre would now reopen between 2028 and 2029.

Theatre manager Adam Burgan said the decision was "a huge relief".

"The Octagon has played such an essential role in the life of Yeovil for 50 years. For us, it's about that long-term vision," he said.

"This project gives us the opportunity to make sure its future is secured for generations and we resolve those historical building issues so we don't have to close again."

The theatre originally closed in May 2023 for a planned year-long £30m rebuild.

But that was put on hold in October 2023, before any work had begun, when Somerset Council decided the original business case was no longer affordable.

The council said this was due to interest rates rising four-fold, from 1.5% when the business case was approved to around 5.6% by October 2023.

The original business case looked to expand the theatre's main auditorium from 622 to 900 seats as well as improving accessibility front-of-house and backstage, and raising the stage house roof to allow bigger touring theatre companies to use the premises.

An artists' impression of what the new theatre could look like

Scaled-down, revised £15m plans were brought forward in August 2024 which include some elements of the original plan but would see the same number of seats kept in a refurbished auditorium.

The original business case included £10m of funding earmarked by Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

The town council now hopes to apply for that cash towards the revised project.

Parish councillor Graham Oakes said the authority initially planned to increase band D council tax to pay for the refurbishment, equal to 22 pence a week.

"We thought that was fair and reasonable but people have said they don't want that increase," he told BBC Radio Somerset. "We appreciate and understand that."

Mr Oakes added one potential source of income to pay back the loan would be introducing a ticket levy.