Barbican dealmoves closer

YORK’S Barbican Centre is one step closer to reopening with the appointment of a preferred bidder to run the venue, creating 60 new jobs.

Council chiefs in the city have asked officers to draw up an agreement with leisure giant SMG Europe, which runs the Manchester Arena and the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

If the firm wins the contract, work would begin to prepare the building for reopening next spring, operating primarily as an entertainment and concert venue featuring as many as 350 events a year.

SMG hopes to attract around 240,000 entertainment users each year. The company’s plan also includes community use days for events such as the Festival of Remembrance.

Before it closed the Barbican was costing council taxpayers 750,000 a year to run and had not had any money set aside for maintenance.