The Town Hall Theatre will install a new state-of-the-art digital projection system in April, while in June, the venue will close for two weeks to install new seating and undertake a number of technical upgrades, re-opening on July 5 for the 21st Galway Film Fleadh.
In the run-up to the venue’s 15th anniversary next year, plans were drawn up to undertake a number of key refurbishments and upgrades. These also include additional technical upgrades in the next two to three years.
In April the digital projection system, funded by an Arts Council/Irish Film Board grant, will be installed. It will allow for ‘Art House’ films to be shown in Galway, and because it will introduce a more economical distribution system, it will facilitate additional screenings including late night screenings for young adults, early morning screenings for children, and thematic seasons.
In June new seating will be installed in the main auditorium. Work will also be carried out to replace drapes and lights.
This capital programme will require an investment in the region of €750,000 over several years with the theatre committing to raising one third of this itself and to generating the balance from a range of local and national sources.
The theatre already has €70,000 of its own contribution in place and to assist in the raising of the additional €180,000 within three years, it has introduced a 50c refurbishment and development charge on every ticket sold for events taking place after Thursday April 2.
The building which houses the Town Hall Theatre was erected in the 1820s and served first as a courthouse and later as a conventional town hall. In the 1950s, it was converted into a cinema until it fell into disrepair in the 1990s.
The Galway City Council with the assistance of a grant from the then Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, undertook a major refurbishment of the building between 1993 and 1995.
Today the venue is open 362 days a year and 15 hours a day on average, regularly attracting audiences in excess of 100,000 a year to events in the main auditorium, studio, and the nearby Black Box.
