• Swindon & Wiltshire Culture
• Tuesday September 24 2024
• Author Name: Peter Davison

‘Multiple parties’ interested in running music and comedy venue Salisbury City Hall

‘Multiple parties’ are interested in running music and comedy venue Salisbury City Hall as an entertainments venue the, building’s owner, Wiltshire Council, says.

The council secured real estate company Savills to market City Hall on the council’s behalf on a long lease. Since June, Savills UK has been supporting the council to identify organisations that are best suited to enter a lease in excess of 25 years.

The 60-year-old, 1,000-seat concert venue – which has played host to The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and David Bowie – closed to audiences in 2020, but was used as a regional venue for the Covid vaccination programme.

In an update was provided at Salisbury Area Board on September 19, Savills confirmed that there has been interest from multiple parties in taking a long-term lease to operate the building.

At the end of September, Savills will ask interested parties to confirm views on the lease and scheduling, before making recommendations to the council based on the outcomes.

A stipulation for prospective operators is that the venue remains as an entertainment venue. Should appropriate operators be appointed after this process they would be responsible for the running of the venue, but the council would retain overall ownership.

Confirmation of the interested parties cannot be released due to the commercial nature of the situation.

Richard Clewer, leader of the council, said: We’re pleased that there has been interest in City Hall as given its heritage and location in the centre of Wiltshire’s only city it offers so much potential for a successful future.

“We see a successful re-opened City Hall complementing the wider cultural offer of Salisbury and all the other investment currently taking place in the city.

“We want Salisbury City Hall to be sustainable for the long-term at no extra cost to the Wiltshire Council taxpayer and that’s why this due diligence is so essential – we want to get this right.

“Due to the commercial nature of the conversations, and with the marketing still ongoing for a short time longer, we can’t share any further specific details at this stage, but we will keep everyone updated as soon as we’re able to.”