Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn safe from Shropshire Council cuts

The £28 million entertainment venue is expected to break even next year.

And council leader Malcolm Pate and its chief executive Clive Wright say that it will survive cuts.

But they warned Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre and Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery could both face closure.

Mr Wright said: "Theatre Severn is at the leading edge of getting costs down and being as efficient as possible.

"We think next year we will be at least at a break-even level. The theatre is safe provided people continue to support their theatre because it is based on throughput and use."

Shropshire Council needs to save around £77 million in the next five years.

Mr Wright said the Shrewsbury museum and art gallery is "quite different" to Theatre Severn because it currently costs the council around £300,000 a year to run. The chief executive suggested corporate sponsors must be secured to help bridge the funding gap.

He said footfall in Shrewsbury was increasing because of attractions like the museum, adding: "Because of this there is a vested interest in looking at how you run the museum. We could look at corporate sponsors, look at how business could run it, look at opening times, look at programming – the Lego exhibition was so popular that it more than paid for itself four times over."

Both men also warned that leisure centres had to break even if they were to stay open.

Mr Wright said: "Leisure providers need to sharpen their pencils and realise the council is not going to pay in the future and they have to come back with proposals."

Work regarding a new pool for Shrewsbury is continuing despite the proposed cuts. Mr Wright added: "If someone wants to run the Quarry pool we will be listening, if someone wants to build a new pool and run it at no cost to us we would be happy with that."