Eastbourne theatre closes suddenly

An Eastbourne theatre has closed its doors suddenly this week.

The Under Ground Theatre in the basement of Eastbourne Central Library closed today (Monday) until further notice.

Eastbourne Arts Centre Charitable Trust which runs the theatre says it had hoped to have its lease renewed but that East Sussex County Council, which owns the premises, has decided to offer the venue out to tender.

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A trust spokesperson said, “Our lease expired in September 2016 and since that time, we have been on a monthly licence pending the lease renewal. “We understood this was due to the uncertainty of the future of the library premises at that time, which are interlinked with the theatre. When the future of the library was assured, we expected to have our lease renewed.

“However the county council has decided to offer the theatre venue out to tender and we will be submitting a tender with a view to resuming events at the theatre as soon as possible.

“We are currently cancelling all the events booked into early 2019 and will be reimbursing any ticket money (via www.onlineticketseller.com and the Tourist Information Centre).

“East Sussex County Council will be working to re-open the theatre venue as soon as possible.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and short notice to our customers and hope they will continue to support the theatre when it re-opens.”