The Carnegie Theatre Trust has been awarded just over £12,000 by the Robin Rigg Community Fund to replace its ageing theatre house lighting.
The current house lights in the iconic Workington auditorium are over 40 years old and use old-style Tungsten bulbs which have a relatively short life and which have been withdrawn from production, leaving the management of the venue anxious about its ability to continue to present a diverse programme of community productions and national touring shows.
A spokesperson for the trust said, “Replacing the house lighting is absolutely crucial for the operation of the theatre. As well as the lamps being out of production, the location of the house lights in the ceiling of the auditorium makes them difficult to maintain so we also needed a solution that made maintenance simpler. This is a great opportunity to reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint.”
The local charity, which has operated the theatre since taking over from Allerdale Borough Council in 2015, made an application to the Robin Rigg Community Fund, which is available to community groups and organisations in the Solway area undertaking activities that contribute to the reduction of the effects of climate change or otherwise benefit the local community.
The funding will be used to replace the existing lights with modern LED units to ensure the venue will be more energy efficient with reduced maintenance and operating cost. The trust estimates that the new fittings will reduce electrical consumption of the auditorium lighting by 50%.
The spokesperson for the Trust said: “We are delighted that we will now be able to tackle this issue, which fundamentally threatened our ability to continue to offer the community a functioning performance space for local schools, groups and professional performing arts. We are very grateful to the Robin Rigg Community Fund for recognising the merit of our application and the value of the Carnegie to the communities across West Cumbria.”
