A NEW era in the life of Ilkley's Edwardian entertainment complex will be announced tomorrow at the first meeting of a new group.

The Friends of the Kings Hall/Winter Gardens has been formed to revitalise the venue and restore the buildings to their original grandeur.

Working in partnership with theatre bosses at Bradford Council, the Friends will apply for charitable status to unlock the route to grants from the National Lottery.

Following a reception to celebrate the completion of the work to upgrade the front of house area, a public meeting will be held to ratify the constitution of the new group.

Jim Horsley, the chairman of the steering group of the Friends said the rest of the money raised by the Old Time Music Hall committee will be given to the council at the meeting.

"The meeting will also enable people who have contributed to the refurbishment of the boxes to look at the completed work," said Mr Horsley.

"We are inviting people to become a Friend of the Kings Hall/Winter Gardens for a £10 annual subscription and to hold further events to raise money for the full refurbishment of the buildings."

The idea of forming the Friends gained ground after a bid by theatre bosses for Lottery funding was turned down. Bradford Council said that it did not have the cash to refurbish the dilapidated buildings.

Community involvement, particularly with users' groups, was seen as the way forward and earlier this year, £13,500 was raised by the Old Time Music Hall event.

This allowed work on re-upholstering seats to be carried out and Bradford Council agreed to fund the front of house refurbishment and make a £40,000 grant towards replacing the glass roof.

Mr Horsley said: "We have had good co-operation with Bradford Council and I think people will be very pleased."

Bradford's theatre boss John Botteley told the Gazette: "We have been investing heavily quite recently and we are very actively supporting the establishment of the Friends. They are aiming to register as a charity and will be able to apply for grants to which the council does not have access."

The new group will be made up of representatives of Ilkley Parish Council, Ilkley Civic Society, The Music Hall Group, Ilkley Concert Club, and other users' groups.

Ilkley District Councillor Anne Hawkesworth is the Tory group's head of environment which includes theatres, which bars her from sitting on the Friends group, but she has given its establishment her backing.

She said that the people who cared mostly for the Winter Gardens and King's Hall, such as the residents of Wharfedale, should have more say in how the buildings are looked after.

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