The new outdoor bar at Joseph Rowntree Theatre is now open – and audiences are loving it.
Situated outside the much-loves community York theatre, the Garden Room opened with a soft launch last week, before an official invite-only launch this weekend with a formal ribbon cutting by Cllr Martin Rowley, the Lord Mayor.
YorkMix spoke with theatre director Dan Shrimpton to find out more about the exciting opening.
“The building work seemed to go really smoothly, Woodstone1 Ltd have done a fantastic job with that,” said Dan.
“We’ve had a few shows where we’ve done a soft opening, so we’ve had a bit of a practise and adjusted a few things – but it’s all going really well and the audience are loving it.
“The audience are coming in and really enjoying the fact that they can come and have a sit down and grab a drink – if they arrive a bit earlier, there’s somewhere to go now.”
There are a range of soft drinks and alcoholic drinks on offer, as well as tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. Mini snacks and crisps will also be available to enjoy.
There are seats and tables inside and out for visitors to sit back and relax with family and friends – whatever the weather!
“As we move into the autumn, we’ve now got a space where people can come and wait and they’re not going to get wet in the rain.”
As well as a place to sit and have a drink, the new bar also has two additional toilets.
Around £140,000 has been invested into the Garden Room, with fundraising through the Heart for the Arts appeal and the ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign helping to raise the money.
Anyone who participates in the ‘Buy a Brick’ campaign will have their name – or a quote from their favourite musical or play – displayed on the wall inside the bar. The growing brick wall of names is still in progress, and it’s not too late to still ‘buy a brick’ to support the theatre.
The Garden Room has replaced the temporary caravan bar that was in place for patrons, and the volunteer team have moved into the new bar.
The initial planning for the Garden Room is for five years, but during that time the theatre will be planning their next steps of developing and extending the building and eventually bringing the space they’ve created outside, inside.
To see what is upcoming to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, visit their website here.
More pictures below…
