Bluecoat celebrates opening just 10 days after being hit by blaze

May 24 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post

THE Bluecoat arts centre yesterday welcomed visitors just ten days after a fire threatened to destroy the building.

Among them was Liverpool city council leader Cllr Warren Bradley, who was not on duty when his colleagues from Toxteth fire station sped to The Bluecoat on Tuesday last week.

But chief executive Alastair Upton showed Cllr Bradley the extent of the impact of the fire by giving him a tour of the badly damaged kitchen, restaurant and office areas.

These areas remain isolated from the rest of the building which are operating normally, including the downstairs coffee bar.

The Variable Capital exhibition also opened yesterday after gallery and operations staff worked to install the show throughout the building’s ten day closure.

And last night pop star Whiley, who has a record in the charts, played a set and held workshops to a packed house.

Ticket and information staff were inundated with enquiries including large group bookings for organisations working with young people who have never experienced the Bluecoat before. Staff reported an air of excite- ment in the building as they prepared for the big gig.

Cllr Bradley said:

“The Bluecoat team have done tremendously well to open so much sooner than you’d expect given the scale of the fire. It is up to the people of the city and all the agencies now to pull together and support the Bluecoat.”

Mr Upton said: ‘It’s very satisfying to see people back enjoying the building.”

SEE Alistair Upton’s Bluecoat blog at blogs. liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ bluecoatblog