WHEN the Swan Theatre opened in 1965 tickets cost 25 pence. Times have changed and 44 years on Worcester’s much-loved arts venue is getting a much-needed makeover.

The £500,000 refurbishment has already started; scaffolding is up and builders are on site.

Soon the drab cement cladding will be stripped away and replaced with a modern, ecological roof. There will be a new bar, better toilets, a balcony with commanding views across Pitchcroft Racecourse and, all importantly for all those theatregoers who have sweltered through summer shows, a state-of-the-art air conditioning system.

Chris Jaeger, chief executive of Worcester Live – the company behind the Swan – said Worcester City Council’s financial investment showed real commitment to the arts.

“I can’t wait for the theatre to reopen so we can all start enjoying the improvements,” he said.

The theatre has just been given £85,500 from the Monument Trust, part of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, to further improve the auditorium.

The grant could not have come at a better time and will be used to replace worn out seating.

The seats are as old as the theatre walls and started showing signs of wear and tear a few years back. The new and improved chairs will be covered in a hardwearing blue fabric.

Mr Jaeger hopes they will be filled for many years to come.

“This is the most fabulous piece of news,” he said.

“It means that when the Swan reopens in June, audiences will really be able to see and feel the difference.

“We are extremely grateful to the trustees of the Monument Trust for making it possible.”

Extensive renovation means the Swan will be shut for another three months, forcing local drama companies to take their shows on tour. The Swan Theatre Amateur Company (STAC) was formed when the theatre was built and has performed more than 200 plays on the well-trodden stage.

Last month they moved out to the Norbury Theatre, Droitwich, where they performed musical melodrama The Murder of Maria Marten.

Long-standing member Frank Welbourne is the company’s property master, archivist, liaison officer, steward and star. He is also the Swan’s unofficial groundsman.

“We are positive about the refurbishment,” he said. “We still have our rehearsal studio [attached to the main house] and the changes will make the building much more attractive.

“It will hopefully bring in more people.”

Getting bums on seats is a challenge for every arts venue during an economic recession.

Worcester Live sales are holding up despite the credit crunch and Mr Jaeger, also chief executive of Huntingdon Hall, soldiers on.

“It seems customers are still finding the money to go to events they’re really interested in – despite the doom and gloom,” he said.

“We have noticed at the box office that customers who would often bulk buy events from all through the four-month brochure, are just booking for the first month, and saying they’ll come back nearer the time for the rest of the tickets.”

Worcester actor Ben Humphrey, who performs and produces shows at the Swan, is just one of many locals excited about the theatre facelift.

“The improvements mean it will be cool in the summer and warm in winter and that’ll make my job as an actor much easier,” he said.

“The Swan’s already got a fantastic atmosphere which you would be hard-pushed to find anywhere else, even at the bigger theatres in the area, so this is a really positive change and I think it will bring even more people to see shows.

“It’s about making it as accessible as possible.”

In 2002 the theatre came close to shutting forever when the city council pulled additional funding.

More than 13,000 people signed a petition to keep it open and the hardfought campaign was a success.

Five years on the Swan is silent, but the future looks bright.

Swan Theatre Timeline

1943: The Society for the Advancement of Music and the Arts (SAMA) is founded in Worcester
1955: Worcester’s Theatre Royal shuts
1956: SAMA begins fund-raising to build a new theatre in Worcester
1962: Plans for the theatre drawn up after £5,000 had been raised
1963: English actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft lays the foundation stone at The Moors
1964: Building work starts. The theatre costs £65,000
June 1965: First production, One Wild Oat by the Swan Theatre Company, is staged. Tickets are priced at five shillings (25p)
1974: Studio theatre block opens
1984: New foyer opens
2002: Worcester City Council announces plans to stop additional funding
2002-2003: The Save Our Swan campaign gathers 13,000 signatures on its petition
February 2003: Council announces that the Swan will stay open to stage both amateur and professional shows.
2008: Council lodges planning application for refurbishment and your Worcester News reveals what the new improved venue will looked like
February 2009: Work starts

June 2009: Swan Theatre due to reopen