Theatre closed by Raac may not open until 2028

A theatre riddled with crumbling concrete may not reopen until 2028 - almost five years after the problem was discovered.

Redhill council closed the Harlequin Theatre in September 2023 because it was built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) which is now deemed unsafe.

A cheaper alternative to concrete, it was used mostly between the 1950s and 1990s and only lasts about 30 years.

The theatre, in Redhill, Surrey, is run by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and has been shut while the extent of the problem was established.

Now, almost three years since the closure, the authority has started to firm up potential reopening dates.

Contracts to start work are still to be signed but the council is hopeful construction can begin by November with builders on site for up to 15 months, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, the authority's leader Richard Biggs said the project was reaching the end of the design stage and a tender price had to be submitted and approved.

He said: "Construction is expected to begin in November 2026 with an estimated on-site duration of between 12 and 15 months.

"Much of this delay has been caused by additional works that the design team discovered during the early part of their design work, and therefore they had to take that into account."

He said a firm reopening date could only be confirmed once a contract was signed and a work programme scheduled.

"I am disappointed that we're not further down the road, but our priority must be to make sure that what we produce in the end provides another good 40 years of service, that the original Harlequin did for our community," he said.

Campaigner David Fisher, of the Harlequin Support Group, said he was told there would be "spades on the ground" by the end of June.

Biggs said: "Yes, I could say we could do things better, and that's true, but the main thing is we get that longevity and young people can grow up knowing that theatre is there for them for many years to come."

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