Bitter row over future of historical venue

Work on The Halls, which hosts events like the Norwich Beer Festival, began in January last year

A bitter row has broken out involving two cultural institutions and a council over the future of a historical venue.

Both Norwich Arts Centre and Norwich Theatre had bid to take over the running of The Halls, a Grade I listed building currently undergoing a major refurbishment.

But the arts centre said its successful bids were undermined by legal challenges made by the theatre against the site's owner, Norwich City Council.

Norwich Theatre said it made the challenges because of how the council had handled the process.

The authority has admitted the process did not meet the "right standards".

Norwich Theatre, which runs the Theatre Royal, said the council had run "a bad process"

The Halls – comprising St Andrews and Blackfriars Halls – closed at the beginning of 2024 to allow £6.9m of work to take place.

The building was due to reopen earlier this year, but that has since been delayed - with costs rising to £7.8m.

Following its closure, the council advertised for an organisation to take over the day-to-day running of the venue, offering a five-year contract.

Norwich Theatre – which runs the Theatre Royal and Playhouse - put in a bid, but it was the arts centre which was successful.

The process was run again earlier this year, and again, the arts centre was chosen in the procurement process.

'Extremely disappointed'

Director Pasco-Q Kevlin has accused the theatre of undermining its successful bids.

He said that on both occasions, the theatre threatened the council with legal challenges, which led to the council cancelling the process altogether.

"Further challenges followed by an extended court process would have been financially demanding for the council with additional lawyers' fees and executive time potentially costing hundreds of thousands of pounds," he said.

"The council had to consider if it would be prudent to spend public money defending and justifying their decisions."

Mr Kevlin said he was "extremely disappointed" as the arts centre's plan was to transform The Halls into a "cultural hub" that would have been the "Southbank Centre" for the East of England.

He also pointed out that the Labour leader of Norwich City Council, Mike Stonard, was a member of the theatre's board.

In response, Stonard said he had "not been involved in any way, shape or form in any decision making about the procurement process".

Council leader Mike Stonard said he played no part in the decision-making process

Norwich Theatre said it made challenges because of how the procurement had been run.

"No-one wins from a bad process or from the withdrawal of the tender," a spokeswoman for the theatre said.

She added that the team at the theatre were "big supporters of Norwich Arts Centre" and they were "very sorry" to read what its director had said.

Meanwhile, the council said it was "sorry" it had withdrawn the offer of a contract, but it had "established the process did not meet the right standards".

A spokeswoman said it was looking at options for "suitable arrangements" to manage the building, which it aimed to reopen "as quickly as possible".

She said that plans for local government reorganisation – which will see all of Norfolk's councils abolished and replaced with new authorities by 2028 – would also factor into any decision.