IT was a visionary plan to create a destination hotel and cultural hub to put Darlington on the map and rejuvenate arts facilities in the town. But disappointment now abounds following the withdrawal of plans to transform the former Darlington Arts Centre into a unique forward-thinking venue. Alexa Copeland reports.

SINCE the closure of Darlington Arts Centre last July, the Project Vane scheme has remained a beacon of hope for the building’s future.

Investors have worked for months to formulate detailed refurbishment plans and engage with potential business partners, private investors, commercial lenders and wealthy individuals who might be interested in backing the project.

The aim was to transform the 19th Century Vane Terrace building into a boutique hotel complete with business outlets and a restaurant that would generate money to subsidise a public arts facility within the venue.

Darlington Council, which owns the building, postponed its sale to allow the project more time to get off the ground and hopes were high that the scheme would become a reality.

Councillors hoped the scheme would help replace some of the facilities lost when the Arts Centre closed due to budget cuts and provide a much-needed boost to the local economy.

The first blow came in January when a bid for a £2m Arts Council grant was rejected – a decision that the council’s cabinet member for leisure, Nick Wallis, said “beggared belief”.

Another funding application to the UK Regional Growth Fund also failed and with the council needing to firm up the future of the empty building, and the project not progressing, the team behind plans have thrown in the towel.

The original building - a teacher training college - opened in 1876. When the college closed, it re-opened in 1982 as an arts centre with a ballroom, elevated stage, a bistro and smaller meeting rooms. A gallery opened the following year and when, in 2001, the venue transferred to Darlington Borough Council - which promised significant new investment - a rosy future seemed to be assured.

The council was as good as its word. After a lengthy refurbishment, the venue was hailed as one of the best provincial arts centres in the country - but this could not save it from closure when the authority was forced to withdraw its financial support last year.

The award-winning arts venue could still play a part any post-austerity cultural renaissance but there are no guarantees. The authority wants to put the site up for sale to the highest bidder.

Graham Thrower, one of the businessmen behind Project Vane, said it was “an ambitious template for an arts and leisure hybrid” that ultimately struggled to get the required funding in the current economic climate.

He praised the council for its support and added: “I think it is the right time, regrettably, for everybody to move on.”

Darlington Council leader Bill Dixon keenly supported the scheme but believes its forward-thinking model was too visionary for the Arts Council.

He said: “I’m disappointed it isn’t going to happen.

“It is an idea well ahead of its time, too far ahead of its time for the Arts Council and they will regret as much as we do that they didn’t decide to follow this vision through.

“It is the way the arts are going to be in five years time, but we just can’t wait that long with an empty building on our hands.”

John Dean, chairman of the community arts group Darlington for Culture, described Project Vane’s collapse as “terrible news”.

He vowed to continue working with the council to ensure that money made from the building’s sale would be put back into the arts.

He added: “From our point of view, it is crucial that Darlington for Culture and the wider arts community is involved in the council’s decisions all the way through.

“It is absolutely crucial that consultations go ahead, that views are listened to, and at the end of it all – even though you can’t please everybody – we come out of the process with some proposals that please as many people as possible.”

On Monday the council’s cabinet will consider a recommendation that the site be remarketed for sale, with suitability for a range of uses subject to planning permission.

The council has pledged to invest any proceeds from the sale to support arts in the borough. public consultations will take place about how that money should be spent if and when the building is sold.