A theatre at a focal point for the community in Woodley is due to undergo a six-figure upgrade.
The Alan Cornish Theatre at The Oakwood Centre in Headley Road regularly hosts theatre productions, music performances and film shows.
It has tiered seating for 100 people and is also available to hire for business presentations and lectures.
Woodley Town Council has initiated a project to upgrade the theatre to install new technology, an improved sound system and enhanced lighting.
The upgrade will cost approximately £132,000.
That is on top of the £8,925 spent on consultants Blue Horizon Ventures to determine what can be done and survey the public.
The projected spend and the nature of the upgrades are included in a report to Woodley Town Council’s strategy and resources committee.
Blue Horizon Ventures has recommended that the upgrade go ahead.
The report states: “The current technical specfication of the theatre is not up to modern standards; equipment is old, expensive to fix or replace, and at risk of becoming obsolete and unusable.
“Without investment, the council risks losing existing hirers and income.”
Consultants from Blue Horizon Ventures also judged that the best financial outcome would be for a business model to cover The Oakwood Centre as a whole.
However, the consultants were unable to devise a detailed business model accounting for the rest of the centre as that was beyond its initial remit.
It was also noted that the centre is currently being run at a loss, predicted to be around £67,000 in the 2024/25 financial year.
If the project is given the go-ahead, the next steps would involve devising a business plan, appointing contractors to deliver the upgrade, and stakeholder and public engagement once the project is complete.
Councillors on the committee are expected to finalise the plans and prepare a bidding process for the delivery of the upgrade project when they meet on Tuesday, April 22.
The fee for Blue Horizon Ventures’ consultancy work was paid for through government Shared Prosperity Fund cash, arranged through Wokingham Borough Council.
The theatre inside The Oakwood Centre was established circa 2013.
Three years later, it was renamed in honour of Alan Cornish in April 2016, in recognition of his key role in the development of performing arts, including being a founding member of Starmaker, a theatre company for young people.
Councillor Keith Baker (Conservative, Coronation East,) who was a backstage volunteer for Starmaker for 20 years, said the Alan Cornish Theatre is currently used by amdrams, charities, the Woodley Festival of Music and Arts, schools, small touring companies and Gilbert and Sullivan shows.
