On Friday the 30th of June we had a fantastic day keeping busy talking about progress at the Burnley Empire.
Left to right: Kelly Smith from Burnley Council, Jayne Rimmer and Naomi Kelly from Historic England
Our first meeting on Friday morning at 9:15 am was with Kelly Smith who has been leading the Burnley Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) Scheme, and Jayne Rimmer and Naomi Kelly from Historic England. They stopped by to see and hear about the work we have been doing before visiting the HAZ funded works on Lower St James's street.
Historic England have always been encouraging and supportive when it comes to saving the building and putting it back into community use. Of course this was a positive visit from Historic England and we very much hope to show them even more progress on their next visit.
Thank you to Historic England for supporting us through the Burnley HAZ scheme in previous years which has allowed us to keep up the momentum of the restoration project and enable works to progress.
High Point Podcast
Our next guest, Marc Fuzellier-Hart, Acoustic Consultant and creator of the High Point Podcast arrived at the Burnley Empire at ten minuets past 10 am just as BET Trustee Michelle also arrived in Burnley via the X43 bus from Manchester.
Marc approached the Burnley Empire Trust (BET) a few months ago to ask if we would be interested in recording a podcast with him and of course we said yes to the opportunity! Fast forward a few months and here he was in Burnley and about to get a glimpse inside the towns last remaining historic venue of its kind. If memory serves right, Marc's first word was 'WOW' as his stepped inside the auditorium in front of the stage.
Marc Fuzellier-Hart from High Point podcast stood outside the Burnley Empire
To record our podcast episode we called upon the help of a friendly neighbour and supporter of the Burnley Empire, Creative Spaces Burnley, formally known as the Red Triangle and 160.
During our time spent with Marc we talked about the building, funding, highs and our future hopes for a restored Burnley Empire.
Look out for our podcast from High Point and in the meantime we highly recommend listing (or watching) the podcast with Marc and Theatres Trust.
Photos: (1st) left to right, BET Trustee Steve, BET Trustee Michelle and Marc setting up for the recording. (2nd) left to right Marc, Steve and Michelle. (3rd) left to right, Marc from High Point podcast and Creative Arts Burnley Owner Jai Redman stood outside Creative Arts Burnley on Lower St James's Street in Burnley.