A New ‘HOME’ for the Arts in Manchester

Never a city to shy away from undiluted culture and arts, Manchester will soon see another enormous edition to its already thriving art repertoire.

“a large gallery, café, bar, restaurant, five cinema screens, a five-hundred seat theatre…”

First Street is currently under a £500 million regeneration scheme in which art will feature heavily. Comfortingly titled HOME, the project aims to combine Manchester staples Cornerhouse and The Library Theatre Company, to create a wonderful ‘multi-art complex’ that will open in Spring 2015.

‘What do we have to look forward to next spring from this amazing project?’ I hear you scream. Well lovers, if another large gallery space for us to showcase the city’s amazing art (and presumably to host some cool parties) wasn’t enough, then how about throwing a café, a bar and a restaurant, five cinema screens, a five-hundred seat theatre and ‘digital production and broadcast facilities’ into the mix?

A whopping 11,000 jobs are estimated to be created within the next four years in the area surrounding this project, which is being created and developed by Ask Property Developments, and counts Oscar-winning film maker Danny Boyle amongst its patrons. Looking at the list of juicy art-type things we have to look forward to from the developers, has left us in no surprise that HOME is predicted to see half-a-million people visit yearly.

Now at an important stage in the construction process, excited statements are coming in thick and fast. Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “HOME is not just First Street’s cultural heart but is acting as a catalyst to the further transformation of the area, attracting other investment and jobs and making a significant contribution to the vibrant mix that makes Manchester a desirable place for residents, vs visitors and businesses alike.”

While Jim Forrester, Chair of Trustees for HOME, added: “It’s wonderful to see our new HOME taking shape. As the project continues to progress on site, we’ll be hard at work programming and producing the superb art, theatre and film that will fill this building.”

Alongside all this fantastic art, we can expect to find at HOME next year, comes the addition of hotel, multi-storey car park, high-end student apartments and a public square, which are also scheduled for completion next year.

It really isn’t a home if you are not inspired by your surroundings, and it looks like HOME is going to be inspiring a myriad of people for a very long time.

Make sure you search more on this exciting venture at www.HOMEmcr.org