Riverside bill would have 'direct impact' on projects like playparks, says Causeway Coast & Glens Council
Causeway Coast and Glens Council has said that taking over the running of Coleraine’s Riverside Theatre “would have direct impact on the Council’s ability to invest in other projects”.
The statement from the local authority came after Ulster University, on whose Coleraine campus the theatre is situated, announced that the facility would close in August this year.
Back in March of this year, Ulster University proposed that Causeway Coast and Glens Council should take over the running of the theatre.
The debate over the future of the theatre had been ongoing since January when Ulster University’s Vice-Chancellor said he could not ‘give any assurances’ about the venue.
On Thursday, May 29, the university confirmed that “Riverside Theatre operations will cease from August 2025”.
Campaigners launched a petition and organised a protest in a bid to save the theatre.
Ahead of the protest outside Council headquarters at Cloonavin on June 3, a spokesperson for Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council said: ”Council currently operates two vibrant Arts and Culture centres at a significant cost of almost £900k p.a. to the local ratepayer; one of these facilities is just two miles from the Riverside Theatre.
"Economically, the Council is one of the poorest in the Province and is effectively managing a wide range of services within extremely limited resources.
"Taking on the Riverside Theatre and its extensive repair bill and associated operating costs would have direct impact on the Council’s ability to invest in other projects, such as playparks or health and wellbeing facilities already committed to in the recently published Estates Strategy 2025 - 2030.”
The Council said that campaigners will be offered an opportunity to state their case to councillors but queried if they were also making representations to Ulster University about the future of the theatre.
The statement concluded: “A community delegation will quite rightly be offered the chance to present to the Council at the end of June, although it is not clear what representation, if any, has been made to Ulster University about their existing and continued civic responsibilities within the greater Coleraine area.”