Manchester heritage railway arches to be turned into artists' hub

Building work has already started on the centres under the three arches

Three heritage railway arches in Manchester are being turned into development centres for artists.

The £3.7m HOME Arches will provide "high quality" but cheap rehearsal and training space, the council said.

It will be operated by HOME arts centre in the First Street district when it is finished in May next year.

It is being financed with £2.3m from the government's Levelling Up fund, £900,000 council cash and £500,000 from HOME.

An illustration of how the new artists' centre will look

The scheme is one of two parts of the Culture In The City project which Manchester City Council secured almost £20m of government Levelling Up funding for.

Council leader Bev Craig said: "These arches are part of our heritage which have sat unloved and underused for many years.

"This scheme is bringing them back to life with a very modern purpose - complementing the thriving cultural economy in our city."

HOME director Dave Moutrey said the arches "will allow us to grow the work that we do with artists in the North West, across theatre, film, visual art and digital works".