Leeds Civic Arts Guild - The Carriageworks

About The Carriageworks In a prime location on Millennium Square, The Carriageworks houses an exciting mix of plays, musicals, dance, film, community events and workshops. The Carriageworks provides a range of entertainment to local audiences as well as acting as an important performance space for local performing groups and companies. The Carriageworks is located within the new Electric Press Development situated on first-floor level overlooking an historic glass-roofed and heated courtyard which in early Victorian times was the home of the ‘West Riding Carriage Manufactory’, from which the theatre takes its name. This exciting new venue is the new home of the long established Leeds Civic Arts Guild, an umbrella organisation of approximately fifteen local amateur performing groups which previously rehearsed and performed at the former Civic Theatre. The Arts Guild is a cornerstone of The Carriageworks and provides an on-going range of entertainment for all ages. History of the building The Carriageworks is located on the first floor level of the Electric Press Development on Millennium Square, Leeds. The Electric Press Development incorporates The Electric Press building (Grade II listed) which was built in 1894 and was used by Chorley and Pickersgill as a printing works; Stansfield Chambers (Grade II listed) which was built in 1848 and housed the West Riding Carriage Manufactory, from which theatre takes its name; and Portland Chambers which was built towards the end of the last century. These buildings were occupied by a variety of tenants over the years up until 1999 when all remaining tenants were relocated to enable Leeds City Council to market the buildings as a development opportunity. [source-LCC] The Guild held its first annual awards night at the theatre on Saturday 12 November 2005 - photos. The Carriageworks theatre now offers Guild members and audiences a more modern and easily accessible venue (max.350 seats), with a larger stage area and a second performance space as well (Upstairs@Carriageworks, with a max. of 70 seats), which may be used for greenroom productions as well as smaller productions. LCC info about the venue www.carriageworkstheatre.org.uk 2005 was a year of huge change for members of the LCAG, with the closure of the Leeds Civic Theatre back in May. The societies who used the Civic Theatre, along with their patrons and supporters campaigned against its closure - a campaign helped hugely by the support of the Yorkshire Post Newspaper. Once everyone had presented their arguments for saving the theatre and its community, the local council agreed that this theatre based community was worth saving. The council were committed to the Civic Theatre building becoming part of the redevelopment scheme, transforming it into a City Museum. However, they finally agreed to provide alternative accommodation "as good as if not better than" [... the Civic Theatre]. So they have built a brand new theatre just a few paces away from the old place, on Millennium Square - The Carriageworks theatre. Carriageworks theatre opening
	model, photographed at the Civic Theatre Open Day 2003. Pre-development tour of the site (formally Stansfeld Chambers and Portland Chambers)	progress as of March 2004 slide show [March 2004]
under construction (7 June 2005)	Scaffolding removed from front of building 29 March 2005	construction 9 March 2005 slide show [early March 2005]

Friday 11 Nov. 2005 - LCAG Exec and others attended the council's official opening of the Carriageworks (more) Saturday 12 November 2005 - The LCAG Awards evening at the new Carriageworks theatre (photos) The list of Awards, nominees and winners can be viewed here, or download a copy (pdf file)


25 Jan 2005 - Leeds City Council's Executive Member for Leisure, Councilor John Procter, met with hundreds of members of LCAG in the Civic Theatre as the theatre was running over a year behind schedule. One Guild member kindly let us have a copy of their notes of meeting - link to read them . Link to email Cllr Procter
"Work is progressing the new £12m of the historic Electric Press building to include the new CarriageWorks Theatre and Conference Centre. There will be a 350-seat main auditorium an 80-seat performance area, which will also provide a venue for art exhibitions, meeting rooms, rehearsal space and storage. A giant video screen will form part of the theatre’s exterior wall facing out onto Millennium Square. The development will also provide new headquarters for the Leeds Art Guild, an umbrella organisation representing amateur drama groups in the city. There will be offices on the on the upper floors with bars and restaurants on the ground floor." Contact David Roche, Tel: 0113 247 4746. E-mail: david.a.roche@leeds.gov.uk

If you want to take an early look at The Carriageworks, we have added a few links for you: Info released by LCC about The Carriageworks - what it's going to be used for and dimensions of stage etc plus contact details incl email [dated 6 January 2005] BBC online news item about the new theatre, December 2003 Leeds Civic Trust article on the new theatre, April 2002 Images from Leeds-uk.com of The Carriageworks Info from Quarmby website about the theatre project Info from panterhudspith architects website on the new theatre project, incl illustrations European Union funding under its Objective 2 Programme, towards the fit out of The Carriageworks [20 Oct 2004] Asda Property Holdings Ltd Auditoria Magazine Read the article from YEP about the new theatre, The Carriageworks [28 April 2005] " ..... The building is on schedule to open on October 17.... It will have full backstage technical equipment, an orchestra pit and tiered seats and will seat up to 350. There will be a second performance space with flexible seating for up to 90 people...."