Ageing art hub Arts Space Portsmouth to be given a £300,000 makeover by the city council
Arts Space Portsmouth, home to nationally and internationally-known artists, uses a former Methodist chapel built in 1905, owned by the council, in Brougham Road, Southsea.
However, the building is looking rundown and in desperate need of repairs.
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Hide AdNow the council has drawn up plans to spruce it up, which would involve fixing eroded stonework, corroded gutters and drainpipes and repairing defective window frames, a bowing external wall and a leaking roof.
Councillor Steve Pitt, the council’s deputy leader, said: ‘Art Space Portsmouth is a thriving community of artists and we're prepared to invest a substantial amount in the building to help ensure it remains a base for their work well into the future.’
Formed in 1980 by graduates and lecturers from Portsmouth Polytechnic, Art Space Portsmouth is now a charity that provides low-cost studios for professional artists and holds regular exhibitions and events.
The cash has come from the council’s capital budget – the sum of cash the authority can spend on the city.