THE council will move ahead with multi-million-pound plans to build a new theatre despite concerns about soaring costs.

Councillors endorsed calls to push on with building a new performing arts venue at the city’s historic Scala Theatre in Angel Place in the face of fears that the ‘true’ cost of the project will not be known until it is built.

The current budget, which has spiralled because of the rising cost of construction and materials, is already millions of pounds short and the council is still trying to hunt down potential investors to bridge the gap.

READ MORE: 'Serious' considerations over scrapping Scala Theatre as costs soar

Worcester City Council’s key decision-making policy and resources committee gave the green light for the council to submit a revised planning application and continue the desperate search for much-needed funds at a meeting on December 13.

The council has been forced to redraw plans for the new 500-seat venue because of money woes and has scrapped another key piece of the project to help pay for the centrepiece work.

Several parts of the project have already been ditched and work to convert the grade II-listed Corn Exchange, next to the Scala Theatre, into a 110-seat venue is the latest to be abandoned because of budget problems.

The council is waiting anxiously to hear back from ministers over whether it could move around £6 million of the £18 million it was given by the government away from other projects and pump it into making sure the Scala work goes ahead.

READ MORE: New multi-million-pound Scala Theatre in Worcester may be ‘unusable’

The city council said it “expects” the government to back its request but admits it would still leave the project £500,000 – or as much as £850,000 – short.

A report, which was discussed by the councillors at a meeting in the Guildhall on December 13, said pausing, or even pulling the plug on the project, had become a “matter for more serious consideration.”

The city had been given just over £6.5m by the government to carry out the Scala and Corn Exchange work – with the council contributing an extra £725,000 towards the project from projected future income and through the sale of the Swan Theatre.

The council has now scrapped plans to sell the Swan Theatre which means the gap could grow to £850,000.

At the meeting, managing director David Blake said the council had “thought long and hard” about the “complex” project and maintained the best option was to move ahead with the work.

Cllr Andy Stafford said he was concerned that the ‘true’ cost of building the new venue would never be known until it was built as the council was not looking at offering a ‘fixed-price’ agreement to a potential contractor.

Mr Blake said offering a ‘fixed’ deal would take control away from the council, leaving a contractor responsible for building within a rigid budget if costs continued to grow.

“It does mean that until the building is finished, it’s difficult to know exactly what it will cost but it does mean that the council will be in control of those costs and be able to decide what elements it may or may not decide to take forward if the costs exceed the budget,” he told councillors.

Cllr Pat Agar said the council needed to “keep [its] nerve” and “remain flexible.”