New Hippodrome building will give ‘everybody a reason to visit’
A major extension at Todmorden’s Hippodrome will give ‘everybody a reason to visit’, the theatre’s project manager, Steve Clarkson, has said.
Demolition of the theatre’s adjacent single-storey shop unit and 1920s extension started in May 2025, and a new, three-storey extension — set to open in the autumn — will allow the theatre to diversify its offer.
On its upper floors, the new extension will provide spaces for the Hippodrome Youth Theatre to rehearse, for smaller performances to take place, or for community groups to meet and hold events.
On the ground floor, a cafe-bar has been created, and this will be open during the day for anyone to use, whether they are watching a performance or not.
The theatre hopes the improved facilities will allow for a wider range of events acts — including professional acts — to take place, and give more people a reason to visit.
Project Manager Steve Clarkson said: “The hope is that we’re going to have lots of events happening, so that everybody in the town has a reason to visit the Hippodrome at some point over the next 12 months.
“Even if you don’t want to see a musical or a play, they’ll be other things going on.”
Mr Clarkson added that the theatre hopes the wider range of acts will draw in audiences from further afield.
“So instead of travelling to Manchester, people from Manchester can travel here to see the things that we’re putting on and really get people excited about this new building that we have,” he added.
With plans to open in the coming months, the theatre is now campaigning to raise the last funds to finish the project.
Mr Clarkson said: “Our final push campaign is to raise funds to actually make this space work, to install the kitchens, to put the floors in, and our hope is that we can get that done and get this building open again fully by this autumn.
“It will be nearly 18 months since we started the project, but it’s a very exciting stage at the moment, where we can add those finishing touches and get those accessible toilets built and things like that and get the building open and get people into it.”
Along with the new events and performance spaces, an archive room has been created, which will provide a dedicated space for the theatre’s growing collection, which predates 1908.
Accessible facilities will also be installed on each level of the new building which can be accessed via a lift, so that anyone with a disability can access the new spaces.
The theatre is collaborating with local community groups to explore different ways the new spaces could be used.
One such group is Age Concern Todmorden, which has served the town and its surrounding areas since 1974.
Trustee Paul Suthers said there is potential for the charity to use the building for a wide range of activities, such as workshops, drama, music, or crafts.
Mr Suthers said: “What we’re hoping to do is make use of this space to encourage all the people to come in and engage with the new spaces, increase their social interaction, which is good for their mental health, and to develop it from there.
“The initial plan is to have a drop-in in the coffee area so that we can engage with our people and ask them what would they like to see.
“There’s lots of potential for doing all kinds of workshops, drama, music, crafts, and so we really want people to tell us what they would really like and enjoy to get involved in, and we’re going to collaborate with Tod Hip and make it a reality for them.”