A £2.8MILLION scheme to transform Burnley Mechanics into a theatre and performance hub fit for the 21st Century has moved a step closer.

Council officers have submitted a bid for lottery cash to restore and improve the historic Mechanics Theatre on Manchester Road.

If given the go ahead by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), officers working with Burnley Leisure Trust, would prepare and submit a stage two bid for £2.8million.

The project would see a new roof, the opening out of the grand staircase from the first floor auditorium to the foyer, and bring now closed spaces back into use.

It would create additional dance studios and workshops, refurbish toilets and improve disabled access to the building and the theatre.

Burnley Council's leisure chief Cllr Lian Pate said: "The aim is to create an arts and cultural centre for the 21st Century.

"The Mechanics is already a dynamic centre that attracted more than 76,000 visitors last year. We want to build on that success.”

If the lottery bid is successful, investment would be made in improving the 19th Century building throughout.

Work would also include transforming the currently unused lower ground floor into a classroom, exhibition, training and workshop space; improving toilets, disabled access and other facilities; replacing the roof and restoring the building’s fabric; and improving the theatre’s energy efficiency to reduce running costs.

The council expects to hear by the end of this year whether it has successfully got through the initial stage of the process which includes a £117,500 development grant from HLF to move forward to the next stage.

If the application is ultimately successful the project is expected to begin in 2020 with an overall cost of around £3million.

Burnley Mechanics Institute, as it was originally known, was opened in 1855 and provided educational and cultural facilities to the town’s rapidly expanding workforce.

It closed in 1959 before being bought by Burnley Council and reopened as an entertainment venue. It last underwent major refurbishment in the 1980s. It won the Lancashire Tourism Awards Cultural Venue of the Year in 2016.

In recent years the Grade II listed building has proved increasingly successful with a bistro and bar downstairs complementing the first floor theatre.

The initial ‘Transforming the Heritage of Burnley Mechanics’ scheme draft project won £10,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund in February and was submitted in August.

It won the Lancashire Tourism Awards Cultural Venue of the Year in 2016.