A REVAMPED theatre has celebrated its first birthday with a string of awards recognising its architectural and construction excellence.

It is 12 months since Darlington Hippodrome opened its doors following a name change and a multi-million pound refurbishment that turned the Grade II listed Civic Theatre into a 21st century entertainment venue.

The redevelopment also involved creating Theatre Hullabaloo, a new dedicated venue for children and families in the old Edwardian fire station.

The project, led by Darlington Borough Council, was a regional finalist in the Civic Trust Awards (CTA), which recognise outstanding architecture, planning and design in the built environment; and in the Selwyn Goldsmith Award, also run by the CTA.

 

It was also shortlisted in the Cultural Buildings: Performance and Events category of the AJ Retrofit Awards, run by The Architects Journal; was a finalist in the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Awards for Planning Excellence in the Heritage and Culture category and was highly commended in the Constructing Excellence North East Awards for Building Project of the Year.

Cllr Nick Wallis, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for leisure and the local environment, said: “It’s fabulous to see that all the hard work that has gone into these projects has received national recognition, huge congratulations to all involved.

“Even more important is the fact that so many people are coming to the theatres to enjoy the wide variety of performances and other events, and making use of these fantastic facilities.”

The theatre has sold 162,851 tickets after staging 358 performances since its reopening, as well as 16,179 coffees, 21,784 pints of beer or cider, 2,535 locally-baked scones and 42,384 ice creams.

 

Speaking to The Northern Echo last month, theatre director Lynda Winstanley confirmed shows are already booked in the diary as far ahead as 2021, and they have become a "significant national theatre".

She said: "I think it was obvious to people we had some things that were holding us back a little bit.

"We needed to do that work and the theatre now is well positioned to take theatre forward to new generations of theatre goers that is for sure and to play a role in the cultural life of the Tees Valley.

"Everyone would like to be the best. I think there are very few historic theatres remaining in the country so we are one of a very few probably from the Edwardian era that are still operating largely unchanged.

"I think we are a significant national theatre and we remain a very popular venue for touring companies."