A new community café will open its doors in Barrow Town Hall tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 14 May).
The Town Hall Coffee Shop is part of arrangements put in place to relocate facilities from the Forum while the venue is closed.
The project has also seen other Forum community services such as the banking hub, conferencing facilities, shows and events moving across to the historic town hall.
The Town Hall Coffee Shop will welcome customers from 11am, who will be able to sample a special opening day buck’s fizz and some of the famous Forum Café scones.
The coffee shop will be officially opened by octogenarian Joyce, one of the Forum Café’s most loyal and long-standing regular customers, who is also marking her birthday this week.
Westmorland and Furness Council announced in January that facilities, including the popular community café and public toilets, would move to the town hall as part of plans to revitalise and open up more of the town hall building to the community while the Forum is out of action.
Councillor Virginia Taylor, Westmorland and Furness Council’s Cabinet member for Sustainable Communities and Localities, said: “We know how important the café is to Barrow and it was a high priority for all of us to keep it open. Our teams have worked incredibly hard over the last few months to re-locate the café to the town hall.
“Our Forum people have also done fantastically well to minimise the impact on planned events at the Forum. Working with promoters, they have been able successfully to re-locate or reschedule a number of shows, moving them to the town hall or other venues and have been keeping ticket holders informed about venue changes.
“We had our first Forum show in the town hall on Friday evening and it was a great success, with a sold-out audience really enjoying the setting in the beautiful Banqueting Hall.
“The current closure of the Forum building is really regrettable, but we have always said that we would find ways that the Forum’s role - and the valuable contribution its many activities and facilities provide for the community - would continue in Barrow.
“Moving these facilities across the road also means we are now able to open up and showcase more of the historic town hall to our communities and we hope people will really enjoy being able to visit this wonderful building.’’
The new town hall coffee shop, public toilets, banking hub and Forum box office and information desk are all on the ground floor of the town hall, accessible via the main town hall entrance off the Duke Street courtyard, directly opposite the Forum. Staff will be on hand to greet and guide customers and new signage has been put in place to help people find their way around.
Anyone wanting to speak to the council’s housing team should continue to access via the Cornwallis Street entrance and go to the Housing Services reception desk.
Councillor Taylor continued: “The Forum has always been more than just an entertainment venue. It has also become a welcoming and valuable community space in the town centre.
“Whether to purely meet and socialise with others, or to connect with supportive and trusted council team members, the Forum Café in particular has acted as a much-needed community hub, reducing loneliness while providing access to support and local information.
“When we knew we would need to close the Forum, our immediate priority was to look to re-provide the café and toilet facilities to minimise impact on the community, as well as looking at how we could move shows and events, including the popular conference and meeting spaces.
“We think that the new facilities in the town hall will continue to meet that need and we hope that people enjoy the experience of visiting the town hall.’’