St Albans: Arena due to reopen in May after asbestos removal

The Alban Arena in St Albans has been closed since it cancelled performances of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs during its run in December

A venue which had to close its pantomime early over asbestos safety concerns is due to reopen "from early May", a council said.

The Alban Arena, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, has been shut since it cancelled Snow White in December.

Work to remove asbestos from above the stage was carried out at an estimated cost of £237,000, St Albans City and District Council said.

The authority said performances for April and early May would be cancelled.

The 53-year-old council-owned venue closed on 16 December after it came to light that a building survey earlier that month found some asbestos had become exposed in a ceiling.

The council said some asbestos dust particles had fallen onto the stage equipment below, though air tests showed there was no immediate risk to performers, staff or the audience.

Use of asbestos in building materials was phased out after it was discovered that long-term exposure to asbestos fibres, usually by breathing in the dust, caused a fatal lung disease - subsequently named asbestosis.

A condition survey of the the 53-year-old council-owned venue found dust below some known encapsulated asbestos

An arena spokesman said the council had handed the venue back to 1Life, which operates the venue on its behalf, and the team was "completing a remobilisation of the venue to ensure it can return to operations".

"We anticipate the venue will now reopen from early May, which sadly means we must cancel one last set of performances covering the April and very early May period," a statement said.

1Life said ticket holders had been given the option to "keep the booking for the revised event, claim a credit for future use or apply for a refund".

It said that there was an "unavoidable backlog of refund and ticket reallocation requests to be administered" which it was "working tirelessly to fulfil".

A spokesman said the previous 18 months of closures due to Covid restrictions and the facility being used as a vaccination centre had led to the backlog, which had been "compounded by the additional closure".

He apologised for "the inconvenience" and said staff would "endeavour to resolve all booking queries, credits and refunds as soon as possible".

The show, which starred Holby City's Chizzy Akudolu as the Wicked Queen, was cancelled in December

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