Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts, is to open again to the public on Tuesday 15 September, six months to the day after closing in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic
Although the building has been closed to the public since mid-March, Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts has been delivering creative content online, commissioning small pieces of work from local artists and maintaining its community engagement projects throughout lockdown. Now Lighthouse is to open again to the public on Tuesday 15 September, six months to the day after closing in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The initial reopening is restricted to the Cinema, the Beacon café, ticket office and some behind-closed-doors rehearsals, courses and classes. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is also expected to resume rehearsals in the Concert Hall.
During this period Lighthouse will be developing a pop-up film studio for creating digital content for live streaming of concerts and other performances whilst audiences are unable to attend indoor performances.
“This is just the first step and it feels like a giant leap forward,” says Lighthouse Chief Executive Elspeth McBain. “In the meantime, we are doing all we can to ensure that BSO our resident orchestra, arts partners and the community can access some if not all of our facilities.”
In July Lighthouse received an emergency grant of £255,038 from Arts Council England that will keep the business afloat until the autumn, but it continues to await details of how the government’s £1.57 billion rescue package for arts and culture will apply to this major Dorset venue. Lighthouse plans to publish an interim programme of work for the autumn within the next few weeks and a decision about pantomime will follow soon after. Find out more here follow Lighthouse Poole on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram .
