Wakefield's old crown court, Production Park and The Hepworth to benefit from £9m Levelling Up cash
A project to bring Wakefield’s former crown court back into public use as a performing arts venue is in line for a share of £9m of Levelling Up funding.
Other schemes set to benefit from the financial boost include developing a new creative technology cluster at Production Park, in South Kirkby.
Money also looks to be spent on a new garden workshop, children’s playground and art trail at The Hepworth gallery.
Wakefield Council’s cabinet members have been asked to approve spending £9.5m of Levelling Up Partnership funding awarded to the authority on the projects when they meet on December 10.
The council was one of 20 Levelling Up partners chosen by the previous government in March 2023.
A total of £4m has been earmarked to go towards the long-awaited transformation of Wakefield’s former crown court into a performing arts venue, including a bar and café.
Planning permission was granted for the scheme earlier this year,.
It forms part of a major regeneration of the city’s civic quarter.
The building has been derelict since it closed as a court in 1993 and is on Historic England’s “at risk” register.
The former court building on Wood Street, which is Grade II-listed, was bought by the council when it fell into serious disrepair.
The plans would see a cafe and licensed bar operating in the building, with other possible uses including a cinema, theatre, dance hall or live music venue.
Production Park looks set to get a £3.25m upgrade of facilities at its site in South Kirkby, already a world leader in providing rehearsal and filming space for some of the world’s biggest stars.
Artists to have used the facilities at Langthwaite Business Park include Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Arctic Monkeys and the Rolling Stones.
The report says the investment will “create additional jobs at higher than local average salary and support local freelance creative professionals with employment opportunities.”
In January, council leader Denise Jeffery and Production Park founder Lee Brooks requested a meeting with former Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove in a bid to turn around the fortunes of the former mining town.
South Kirkby has had two previous Levelling Up funding bids turned down.
In a joint letter, Coun Jeffery and Mr Brooks urged Mr Gove to ensure the area received a share of a new funding pot being reserved for culture projects.
The letter said: “Our creative industries have a vital role to play in levelling up.
“As the government has recognised, they are at the centre of our future economy, and highly effective in spreading opportunity to every corner of our country.
“Production Park in South Kirkby should be at the heart of this vision. It is a world-leading creative campus.”
A sum of £1.25m has also been allocated for new attractions at the Hepworth plus a new art trail led by Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
The document says the work would “complete the regeneration of Wakefield’s Waterfront, providing a thriving cultural and community hub and instilling a sense of local pride.”
A fourth project involves spending £250,000 on a feasibility study to consider how best to develop higher education in Wakefield.