We visit Wolverhampton Arts Centre ahead of refurbishment plans thanks to new funding
Wolverhampton Arts Centre plans to fix the buildings wear and tear in its new funding package.
Walking around Wolverhampton Arts Centre you can’t help but notice that this gigantic building that holds so much of the city’s creative expression could do with a makeover.
The building has had many lives throughout the decades: Wolverhampton Arts Centre famously used to be Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School, first built 1894 until 1980, and then for ten years as a comprehensive.
The school closed its doors in 1990 and the council and the college undertook a capital project to rebuild and redevelop the site as an arts centre and a creative education space that opened in 2000.
25 years later, the centre has evolved again, how it’s used has changed - the new funding announced yesterday (April 14) will support the centre’s work.
Wolverhampton Arts Centre will receive £4,999,999 from the government to support its function as a hub for artists and the local community. The centre located in Whitmore Reans is known for its studio spaces and performances.
Nowadays, speaking to Wolverhampton Arts Centre, Chief Executive Trevelyan Wright told us that the centre gets a thousand visitors per week.
“We have about a thousand people come on average. Whether, they are a resident coming to their workspace. Whether, they’re coming to attend a course or class. Anything from yoga, Pilates, to youth theatre. English as an additional language, or if they’re coming to see a sweaty live concert in the evening. Jump up-and-down and buy a pint at the bar,” Chief Executive Trevelyan Wright told the Express & Star.
When asked what the Wolverhampton Arts Centre will go with the new £5 million in funding, the centre shared that they’ve not received this level of funding in about 30 years and will spend time refurbishing the centre.
He shared the plans: “We’re going to spend the money on refurbishing and repairing everything that if you’ve been to the arts centre over the last decade, you will be aware has started to show a bit of wear and tear.
“The roof of our historic gallery hall leaks in the wet weather and isn’t at all insulated, there’s huge amounts of need to make it water tight and to make it all more environmentally sustainable so we can reduce our energy bills.”
“We’ll also use the money to replace the Edwardian single pane sash windows that have been in situ for the best part of a century, with modern double glazed units.
“When you come to the arts centre in two years, we’ll have a new main entrance. We’ll reinstate the historic main entrance to school onto New Hampton road.”
Trevelyan Wright shared his thoughts on why the arts is so important to people across the city.
“We think that the arts is part of a quality of life. Increasingly, people are aware of the limitations of having on-screen at home. People want to jump up-and-down in a live sweaty gig. They want to go to a class and learn how to do life drawing with a model. They want to send their kids to a dance class, they want those opportunities to come together to explore creatively,” he said.
“We’ve always been about lots of different life forms: music, visual arts, recording studios, youth theatre, photography, printing. All of those things go on at the site at the moment.”
While today is a time to celebrate for Wolverhampton Arts Centre, the construction works are expected to next place next year, in the summer of 2027.
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