Closed theatre set for revamp after £350k donation

A theatre which has been closed since 2021 can be renovated thanks to a £350,000 donation.

Armstrong Hall, home of the Thornbury Theatre Group, has received the donation from Maggie Lansdown, the wife of Bristol City Football Club owner Steve Lansdown.

It follows an open letter signed by 250 people in early 2023, in which residents called on Thornbury Town Council to help them reopen the venue.

Town residents told BBC Bristol Radio the donation was "great news" and hoped the theatre would reopen soon as a result.

The town council previously said in response to the letter it was a trustee of the hall but this was "entirely separate" from its responsibilities as a local authority.

One Thornbury resident said the theatre was "vital" to the town.

"It's part of the life," she said. "Thornbury is dying without it."

Another said the funding news was "pretty great for the town".

"The amount of organisations that now have an opportunity to put on performances in the town again that we've missed out on - and now we can have it all back in the community again," he said.

A women who used to take Greek dance lessons at the hall also welcomed the news.

"I feel these places are the heart of the community - when small community groups could afford to use the halls," she said. "Hopefully it's reasonable enough to hire.

"Well done to the person that raised the money."

Thornbury Musical Theatre Group held performances at the Olympus Theatre in Filton following the closure, but said last year Armstrong Hall was its "spiritual home".

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