‘SERIOUS’ concerns have been raised about the spiralling cost of building a new performing arts venue in the city.

Worcester City Council is looking to open a new 500-seat auditorium at the Scala Theatre as part of multi-million-pound work to regenerate Angel Place and the ‘neglected’ northern side of the city centre.

The council was awarded almost £18 million from the government last year to fund the work but bosses have now said the rise in materials and construction costs meant it was having to ‘look at further funding options’ before anything is built.

The council’s managing director David Blake said he was remaining optimistic but admitted there were currently a number of risks with the Scala work.

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“In terms of funding, we do have a gap at the moment,” he told the policy and resources committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on Tuesday (September 6).

“The two risks that jump out are that if we cannot deliver the project within budget, where do we stand?” he added. “We understand that. We will consider alternative options if we get to a point where we can’t raise sufficient funds.

“The other risk … is if the government doesn’t allow us to move any of the funding around the programme.”

“Bluntly, the success of the project rests on our ability to reallocate that money within the programme rather than return it to the Treasury.”

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Several changes to the council’s original submission for government funding have affected the total budget.

The council’s original plan included buying and converting Trinity House into flats – which has now been scrapped after the council failed to strike a deal with the building’s owners – and buying the former Panama Jacks restaurant, which has since re-opened as darts-themed bar Dart Side.

The council said it does not yet know whether the government will allow it to pump the money from the aborted Trinity House idea into the Scala and Corn Exchange work but the £280,000 saved from scrapping its plans to buy the Panama Jacks restaurant has been allowed to be moved.

The council is also looking at buying the building last used by the Ultimate Party Shop in Angel Place as part of the work.

Cllr Jabba Riaz said he could not see what had changed in Angel Place in the last two decades and was worried he would be saying the same again in another 20 years.

He said: “The investment around Angel Place has a significant part to play in the future of Worcester … admittedly there are some serious concerns about the finances but the overall benefit that this will bring to our city outweighs any negativity that hasn’t [already] been addressed.”