 Pictured in April 2015 | |
  Preston Guild Hall Location in Preston city centre | |
| Full name | Preston Guild Hall and Charter Theatre |
|---|---|
| Location | Preston, Lancashire |
| Coordinates | 53°45′35″N2°41′51″W / 53.75972°N 2.69750°W /53.75972; -2.69750 |
| Public transit | Preston bus station |
| Owner | Preston City Council |
| Operator | Preston Guild Hall Ltd |
| Type | Concert venue (Grand Hall) Theatre (Charter Theatre) |
| Capacity | 2,034 (Grand Hall) 780 (Charter Theatre) 350 (Foyer) |
| Acreage | 1,087 m2 (Grand Hall) 336 m2 (Charter Theatre) 529 m2 (Foyer) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1973; 53 years ago (1973) |
Preston Guild Hall is an entertainment venue inPreston,Lancashire, England, which opened in 1973.
The Guild Hall was commissioned to replace the town'sPublic Hall.[1] The new building, which was designed byRobert Matthew, Johnson Marshall, was due to be ready for thePreston Guild of 1972, but after construction was delayed, it only officially opened in 1973.[2]
The complex has two performance venues, the Grand Hall which holds 2,034 people and the Charter Theatre which holds 780 people.[3] There is direct pedestrian access, via footbridge, from the adjacentPreston bus station and car park.[4]
Artists that have performed at the venue includeRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,[5]Libor Pešek[6] andVasily Petrenko.[7]Led Zeppelin andDavid Bowie both performed at the venue in 1973 andThe Smiths in 1986 among others.[8]Bing Crosby gave one of his last concerts at the Guild Hall in September 1977, less than a month before his death.[9] It also hosted theUK Snooker Championship for the years 1978 to 1997.[10]
In 2013,Preston City Council considered demolishing the venue due to high running costs,[11] but instead sold it in 2014 to local businessmanSimon Rigby for an undisclosed sum,[12] later revealed to be £1.[13] In return Rigby promised to spend £1m in renovations.[14][15] Ongoing financial problems saw Rigby close the venue in May 2019 and he was forced to place the business into administration.[13][16] Preston City Council, one of the company's creditors,[17] subsequently reclaimed possession of the building, citing "significant breaches" in the lease agreement and the "unacceptable behaviour" of Rigby's attempt to transfer ownership to a charity of which he was a trustee.[18][19]
The building was due to host the Business Expo in April 2020 but this event had to be cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[20] The Guild Hall was set to reopen in November 2023 but this was delayed until March 2024 due to concerns over the use ofaerated concrete on the site.[21][22]
53°45′35″N2°41′51″W / 53.7596°N 2.6975°W /53.7596; -2.6975
Buildings and structures in theCity of Preston | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade I |
|  | |||||||
| Grade II* |
| ||||||||
| Grade II | |||||||||
| Unlisted |
| ||||||||
| Derelict or demolished | |||||||||
| Lists | |||||||||
Authority control databases: Geographic |
|---|