Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Kettering and surrounding areas have been waiting a whole year for a new theatre after the McKinlay Theatre which was part of Tresham Institute closed down.

It shut in December 2006 so that Tresham Institute could pull down the building and transfer to a new campus on Windmill Avenue.

Lighthouse theatre has 562 seats with 400 tiered seats at ground floor level, 138 tiered in the balcony and six private boxes each with four seats and a fridge.

Plenty of leg-room!

Kettering Youth Theatre Group were the last to perform at the McKinlay theatre with their production of Dick Whittington and they will be the first to perform at the Lighthouse with Mother Goose.

The theatre cost Β£2 million to build with a Β£250,000 coming from Kettering's Council Tax payers. The Lighthouse is a part of the Kettering Conference Centre and is a commercial venture but to secure community use of the theatre Kettering Borough Council will pay Β£30,000 per year.

Councilor Russell Roberts from Kettering Borough Council and Margret Walker from Kettering Operatic Society spoke to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Northamptonshire's Anna Murby about the opening of the theatre: