Fresh hope for 'Brutalist' Eryri theatre closed for seven years

RENEWED efforts are being made to reopen a Gwynedd theatre seven years after it shut.

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A condition survey is to be carried out at Harlech’s Theatr Ardudwy to assess the work needed to bring the facility up to modern standards.

Design proposals will also be drawn up by the South Wales Building Preservation Trust, which has been awarded £8,000. After years of false dawns, there are fresh hopes the building can be back into community use. Theatre owner Coleg Harlech Ltd said the planned survey was a “welcome first step”.

Theatr Ardudwy is an example of Brutalist architecture, one of the few remaining buildings in Wales built to this style. Completed in 1973 by local architect Ralph Colwyn Foulkes, the building was grade II*-listed by Cadw in 2016.

A host of productions were staged during its heyday but both the theatre and college following concerns about the structural safety of the buildings. After re-opening for a short period, they were forced to close again in 2018 because of financial problems.