Sussex Estates and Facilities

Timetable

Key dates

Please note: all future dates are estimates and subject to change

2008

·         2008 the Gardner Arts Centre was handed back to the University; the building was returned to the University in poor condition, with a leaking roof and windows, and many of its original fixtures and fittings removed (because the Trust had sold items to repay debts to the University and others)

·         Subsequent professional surveying of the building has shown a significant part of the auditorium to be unsafe, unusable services and generally poor building condition including leaking windows and roof

·         July 2008 Council approved the refurbishment of the Gardner building, which is Grade II* listed

·         November 2008 Council agreed the £4.8 m estimated cost of refurbishment and approved the appointment of an academic Director to scope and direct the Centre's future, including finalising the refurbishment project

2009

·         A steering group developed the job description for the new Director  

·         April 2009 the University announced the Gardner Centre was to be renamed the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA)

·         June 2009 the post of ACCA Director was advertised 

2010

·         January 2010 Professor Sally Jane Norman took up her role as ACCA director

·         Spring 2010 EFM, framework architects, technical specialists and academics formulated an outline project design brief for refurbishment of the building

·         March 2010 Studio Andrew Todd (SAT), an architecture company with specialist competence in refurbishment of listed theatres, was commissioned to carry out a feasibility study

·         April-May 2010 five weeks of 'stripping out' and surveying operations to underpin revised design plans

·         September 2010 Council approved revised £7.2m funding for refurbishment of the building

2011-12

·         2012 tenders sought for main works

2013

·         May contractor appointed to carry out internal refurbishment 

2014

·         January internal refurbishment work starts