Council confirms it will run city venue after row

Norwich City Council said The Halls would return to "council operations as soon as possible"

A city council has confirmed it will take over the running of a Grade I listed venue following a row over who should manage it.

Norwich City Council said The Halls would return to "council operations as soon as possible" after failed attempts to find an external operator.

Norwich Arts Centre had twice been selected to manage the venue, which dates from the 14th Century and has been undergoing a major refurbishment.

But the arts centre said its successful bids were undermined by legal challenges made by Norwich Theatre, which runs the Theatre Royal and Playhouse.

Norwich Theatre said it was unhappy with how the council had handled the tender process.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Karen Davis, an independent councillor who represents the Town Close ward, asked if the arts centre would be given the opportunity to run The Halls after it had previously won the contract.

But Carli Harper, a Labour councillor who is the cabinet member for finance and major projects, confirmed the venue would be managed by the council, which had terminated its "procurement exercise".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Harper said: "We are committed to ensuring The Halls reopen to the public as quickly as possible and we will be looking at our options in terms of putting suitable arrangements in place to best to manage one of the city's much-loved listed buildings.

"The council will consider the lessons learnt from this procurement process and put in place any improvements identified," she added.

The Halls – comprising St Andrew's and Blackfriars' Halls – closed at the beginning of 2024 while work took place.

It was due to reopen earlier this year, but that has been delayed, with the costs of the refurbishment rising to £7.8m.

Harper added: "We will be developing plans for the reopening of The Halls, to ensure our residents and creative community can benefit from this wonderful asset as soon as possible."