Inside the Bristol Beacon: Million hours of work to reopen venue

An iconic entertainment venue will soon reopen after undergoing a major renovation.

The Bristol Beacon, previously known as Colston Hall, closed in 2018 and will reopen on 30 November.

More than a million hours have been put into the refurbishment of the hall, which will be run by Bristol Music Trust.

The venue's chief executive Louise Mitchell said it "has been an epic project that has involved hundreds of highly skilled and talented people".

She said it "will be one of the best concert facilities in Europe" and is expected to generate a least £13m for the local economy in its first year.

The revamp of the historic building, which will be under a 30 year lease, has run over budget with the original estimate standing at £48m.

The final cost is expected to be more than £130m.

It has also been through a much-publicised renaming in the time it has been closed, originally being called The Colston Hall, after Edward Colston, who was a 17th Century slave trader.

The hall is expected to put on around 800 events a year with audience numbers going from 300,000 to 500,000 a year.

The new design comes from architecture practice Levitt Bernstein, which has also put in a new music education centre, which will provide lessons to 1,800 children with special educational needs and disabilities each year and give lifelong learning opportunities to a further 5,000 people.

The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, emphasised the economic benefits.

"Our drive to complete this work is fuelled by the knowledge that the completed venue will support over 270 jobs, generate over a quarter of a billion pounds of economic benefit for our local economy, and spearhead a social investment in our city's communities through a high-quality music education centre and programme."

The opening night on 30 November will feature the Bristol based Paraorchestra, who are working with electronic composer Surgeons Girl and AV experts Limbic Cinema to create an audio-visual performance.

A free party will take place during the venue's opening weekend on 2 December.

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