£25m revamp of King's Theatre in Edinburgh delayed by at least a year

A £25m revamp of the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh has been delayed by at least a year after being put on hold by the coronavirus pandemic.

Edinburgh's King's Theatre dates back to 1906. Picture: Lisa Ferguson.

The venue was expected to close for nearly two years in September 2021 to allow a long-awaited makeover to be carried out.

However the trust which runs the 114-year-old theatre on behalf of the city council said it had officially "paused" the project, which was expected to be ready in time for the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival.

Cultural venues across the country were forced to go dark earlier this month after the Scottish Government called for large gatherings of more than 500 people to be cancelled.

Capital Theatres, which also runs the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, is now exploring the "potential" of starting the project 12 months later, but insists it is still "committed to pressing ahead with the scheme, which is aimed at preventing the King's from sudden closure in the next few years due to its ageing facilities.

A fundraising campaign was launched in November 2018 to kickstart a redevelopment which has been planned for a well over a decade.

The project will see the theatre's bars and foyers overhauled, new dressing rooms and wardrobe facilities created, a never street-level cafe-bar opened up, a new education studio built and a new stage installed to allow the theatre to host a more diverse range of events.

It is hoped that the project will see the number of annual visitors to the venue - where Anna Pavlova, Dame Margot Fontaine, Maria Callas, Juliette Binoche and Dame Maggie Smith have all performed - increase by more than 50 per cent.

The fundraising campaign has already won the backing of leading Scottish actors Brian Cox and Bill Paterson, playwright John Byrne, author Ian Rankin and panto stars Grant Stott, Andy Gray and Allan Stewart.

Dame Joan Stringer, chair of the board of Capital Theatres, said today: "Like so many, we are responding to unprecedented circumstances.

"Both our project board and main board met this week during which we considered the impact of the coronavirus on our plans for the King’s redevelopment.

"What is absolutely clear is that we all remain committed to delivering on our plans to redevelop the King’s into a modern venue, celebrating its rich heritage whilst sustaining it for future generations of enjoyment.

"We are, however, realistic and recognise that the current situation will affect our ability to deliver the project in our current timescales.

"The redevelopment works were due to start in September 2021, completing in summer 2023.

"We have therefore taken the difficult decision to pause the project, and are exploring the potential of starting the project 12 months later, in September 2022.

"We are now moving into discussions with principal funders, the city council and the National Heritage Lottery Fund, alongside our design team, to pause the project.”