Swindon Borough Council has released plans for a £80m reboot of its cultural quarter, including an ambitious proposal for a new 1,200-capacity theatre.

Earlier this month the council was given £19.5m via the government’s Towns Fund and it also hopes to receive £20m from the Levelling Up fund to facilitate the redevelopment, which includes a new media and arts production centre, dance studio and art gallery.

The prospectus and the work to date has been funded by Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and its board will meet on March 25th to hear the latest on the plans and the next steps for delivery.

Councillor Dale Heenan, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Town Centre, Culture and Heritage, said: “Delivering a 1,200-capacity theatre to replace the Wyvern, a new media and arts production centre, new dance studio and art gallery will provide a huge economic boost, and reinforce our long-term plan to improve our town centre.

“Six months ago, the idea of a Cultural Quarter with construction finishing within 10 years was praised by many residents, businesses and arts groups who read the business case. We approved the plans, and decided that it was an important step to write an investment prospectus by March to showcase what we aim to achieve in Swindon.

“Today we have that investment prospectus and it will help to attract the money we need to pay for everything. We will be putting in a bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund which gives us the chance to receive up to £20m and, if successful, that would go a long way to helping us achieve our funding target.

“I am optimistic because my new approach to the town centre has seen more than £100m secured over the last two years, and the first crane is already here. It’s taken time but people will soon start to see real visible changes happening so we can be positive about Swindon’s future.”

It is estimated more than 850,000 people will visit the Cultural Quarter and its venues in the first year alone, generating more than £35m of retained local economic activity and more than 1,300 jobs.

The project site is located between the railway station and the new Zurich offices and its key partners include Swindon Dance, Create Studios, HQ Theatres and Prime Theatre.

The new theatre would be twice the size of the current Wyvern Theatre, enabling it to host the very best touring theatrical and musical productions while the auditorium would also be flexible enough to welcome music concerts in all genres, including for standing audiences.

A section of the planned new cultural quarter in Swindon