Fresh plans to revive Hornsey Town Hall as a landmark venue for “the theatre industry and the community” have been unveiled for the first time by its future owners.
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is set to take over the iconic Grade II* listed building off The Broadway, Crouch End, promising to deliver a new life for the art deco building while protecting features that recently formed the backdrop for Dominic West drama The Hour.
Revealing a detailed breakdown of its vision for the first time, part of the academy’s plans include building an entire new wing to house three floors of studio classrooms and another theatre, in a design sympathetic to the existing building.
A courtyard in the centre of the site will be given a glazed roof, while the existing council chamber, assembly hall and exhibition rooms on the first floor will be refurbished and brought back to use for meetings, workshops and art shows.
The theatre group has agreed a peppercorn rent from Haringey Council of £1 for a 125-year lease.
Mountview principal Sue Robertson, who revealed the plans at the Crouch End Area Forum on Monday, said: “Our vision is that we will be a unique model of a drama school working with both the theatre industry and the community.
“It is ambitious but we believe we can do it. We will need everybody to be committed to the plans so we can be persuasive when it comes to fundraising.”
Other additions include a heritage information centre, poetry garden and covered walkway to link the town hall with the nearby Hornsey Library.
Storytelling workshops, film screenings and summer schools are also in the pipeline.
Original plans by the Hornsey Town Hall Creative Trust to build a thriving arts hub with a new theatre, studio space, bars and housing stalled despite winning planning permission last year.
Retired business analyst Adrian Essex, of Fairfield Road, Crouch End, asked the theatre bosses: “Grand plans for the town hall have been gradually eroded until we have got this single tenant. How can we be certain that as you move from broad brush to detail that all the public benefit will be achieved?”
Ms Robertson replied: “We feel that we can only work and thrive by being part of the community, and we are passionately committed to it.”
A consultation on the £19million development, still in the design stage, is due after Christmas. It will be funded by the sale of land at the rear of the site, thought to be worth around £10million, for housing and Mountview’s reserves of more than £1million. Mountview will ask the Heritage Lottery Fund to plug the gap.
Hornsey Journal
