Definatley.

There is genuine demand for an arts / performance centre in the town and has been for as long as i can remember and as you say its something that would make money and more importantly be of great benefit to the people of Wigan.

As for the design of the building itself what is the obssesion with that horrible plastic clading that they seem to put on many new buildings? - its going to look terrible in ten years time.

What they should do is sell it to a builder, tell him he can't knock it down then close up shop for a long bank holiday weekend and hey presto.

I was one of the first batch of swimmers that left Wigan Wasp to join Wigan Scheme of Excellence all them years ago when it was introduced. Many a good memories, especially when I broke the record for the pool at my age group. I often wonder what or who held the records when they demolished the International pool.

Ridiculous as it sounds, it's entirely possible that the council won't have sold the building because they're not allowed to.

Several council buildings in St Helens were, apparently, donated to them by the Pilkington family with a specific covenant stating that they were to be used only by the council, and cannot be used for anything else.

That said, the government can do what they want - I'm sure a rule change here or a new law somewhere or other can eradicate such things. I mean, you would think, wouldn't you, that getting that part of town looking the part would take some form of priority.

But no. Let's waste £200m+ on building a red and black box in the middle of town instead.

Surely the 'true cost' is infact the initial outlay plus interest on repayments? It's no different to how finance is raised on most other commercial developments with future income factored in to counterbalance finance expenses.

FWIW I've no great objection to the place, the wife has joined but I won't be. Though I tend to use gyms mainly to do weights, the wet centre is usually the relaxing part at the end of a sesh. A multi-use pool with dozens of folk gawping at the side doesn't tick the box for me.

Surely they can build something on the land that incorporates the buildings still there (done up as best they can obv) in the same way Arsenal did with the marble halls at Highbury.

I'm with you Matty. I haven't paid to park in Wigan for about a decade.

Looking at the layout of the 'Old Town Hall' if converted right it would make pretty decent sized Theatre.

Not certain about that. You'd be suprised at how much space you actually need for a theatre. It's not just the place you sit to watch the show, you also have front of house and box-officing areas, bar areas, lighting & sound booth, then you have to have a sufficient stage to house what you want to house, with a fly-tower above, space for dressing rooms, green room, space for curtain tracks, fly works, electrics, workshop etc etc etc. For me, the only way to do it justice, would be to knock down Francos, and use the entire plot of land, but again, no parking...

Yeah, use the whole area right to the pavement of the Dual Carriageway, get rid of Franco's and use that existing small car park on the corner. Just google mapped it and there's probably more square feet of land than the existing Apollo in Manchester.

Re: Parking, there ain't much around the Apollo either.

Generally not, staff usually take it up. I know, i've worked at Stage Manager at The Apollo on a tour show. By the time you put a couple of lorrys down the side, there aint much space.

I've been to many music venues up and down the country and very few have dedicated parking for attendees (we're not talking arenas here). In fact Wigan would have more parking, readily available what with all the multi story's located close by.

As for the guy who said it's not big enough; it's plenty big enough, but it does depend how big a venue you want obviously, something Apollo size would easily fit there.

The council could do a lot worse than putting a theatre where Marketgate is, given that Marketgate has died a death, and is now virtually empty. Plenty of access from the Market Street side, too.

Whether the owners of Marketgate would sell up, though, is another matter.

Is it supposed too, or have they 'built it on the cheap' ?

Surely you're all forgetting about Wigan Little Theatre though

yes, so long as you don't destroy the orginal fixture. Where JD sports is at top of Grand Arcade; used to be Yates and before that Ship Hotel, the front of the building encases the old Yates/Ship Hotel front

No. Wigan needs a large theatre.

Concerts / Musicals / Comedy Nights / Panto's at Christmas....etc.

It was long enough... but not quite wide enough to have the right amount of lanes. Thats what we where told when i worked at the old place.

Tongue firmly in cheek, hence the

And soon out dated as it was not anti wave. Try having a race in it, it was a good pool and I loved swimming in it but if you had the wrong lane it was like swimming in the Atlantic.