Operators compete to take on new venue

THREE entertainment operators are vying to take on the running of a north Lincolnshire venue.

They are all being asked to submit final proposals for Baths Hall, which has been the subject of a protracted political row.

The operators include Sheffield International Venues Ltd, which last year hosted rock band U2 at Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium and the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year awards.

It is competing against SMG Europe Holdings Ltd, which manages 75,000 seats in Europe and has a portfolio including arenas, theatres, educational science centres and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

A third potential operator is HQ Theatres Ltd, the UK’s second largest privately-owned regional theatre operator. It runs the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, among others.

Coun Mark Kirk, Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said the companies’ interest was testament to the “quality of the landmark design” for the new venue, built on the site of the former Baths Hall.

However the council’s Conservatives say that hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money will be wasted on the venue in the form of a subsidy “disguised as a management fee”. Tory group leader Coun Liz Redfern urged Coun Kirk to publish details of the fee – which comes on top of the 20 extra council tax that she says will be needed just to fund the build.

She said: “This is yet another attempt to portray an abysmal scheme as a success in waiting. We have listed many times the numerous faults of this project, from the absence of adequate parking, the woeful catering facilities and the poor design, to the massive drain that it will place on the council taxpayer.”

Construction work on the venue, which has a standing area for 2000 people, is planned to start in April and be completed by around next July.