It's off to work we go! Left to right: City Council leader Cllr John Gilbey, Bernard Clarke, managing director of contractor ISG Jackson, Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Alex Perkins and Labour Party leader Cllr Julia Seath at Monday morning's groundbreaking ceremony. Picture: Chris Davey

by Adam Williams

Work has begun on the construction of the multi-million pound New Marlowe Theatre.

Canterbury City Council leader Cllr John Gilbey and invited guests helped turn the soil at a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday morning, 40 years to the day man first landed on the Moon.

He said: "I hope you won’t mind me paraphrasing a well-known quote, but this is one small spade for man, one giant step towards the New Marlowe."

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Video: See how work has begun on the new theatre

The start of construction follows more than three months of demolition work, after the old theatre closed its doors in March. However, vital elements of the former theatre do remain, the fly tower and stage, which will see the new larger auditorium and second performing space built around them.

The £25.5 million venue has been designed by architect Keith Williams, who is confident in delivering an iconic structure.

He said: "This project is one of the most important cultural ones going on in the country at the moment and as an architect, I’m extremely excited by that."

Mr Williams has also successfully designed and built the new Wexford Opera House in Ireland, which has been the inspiration for the New Marlowe.

He added: "It will be a 21st Century building and creating a large cultural building, in an historic city like Canterbury, is a huge challenge for architects.

"Having taken many many views on how to take on this project, I’m very confident we can get this right."

The curtain is due to come up on the new stage by summer 2011. A three-tier auditorium will increase capacity in the auditorium by nearly 300 seats with the furthest seat away from the stage 33 ft closer than in the old theatre. A second dedicated performing space on the site of the old Friars Garage will also seat audiences of up to 150.

To see the latest progress on the redevelopment, log onto the New Marlowe Theatre webcam, situated on the roof of The Canterbury Tales pub at www.newmarlowetheatre.com