THE transformation of the inside of Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre is under way as the auditorium becomes a temporary home for nearly 120 tonnes of scaffolding.

The refurbishment of the Grade II listed theatre, built in 1963, is part of Eastbourne Borough Council’s £44 million investment to create a first-class cultural, conferencing and sporting destination known as the Devonshire Quarter.

All 1,660 seats have been removed from the auditorium to make way for nearly 34,000ft of scaffold tubes that will be held together by 6,577 fittings with nearly 3,200 scaffold boards.

Once the scaffolding is completed, work will begin to create an opening in the roof of the auditorium to make way for a lighting bridge.

This will be followed by the installation of a new heating and air conditioning system, new seating, toilets and a café in the current foyer.

Councillor Margaret Bannister, lead cabinet member for tourism and enterprise, said: “This is a really exciting stage of the development as work will progress soon on installing a lighting bridge that will enable London-style shows to be put on in Eastbourne.

“The extent of the scaffolding shows how much work is involved in this stage of the Congress transformation.”

The Congress Theatre, the largest theatre in the Sout East, is considered architecturally on a par with buildings such as The National Theatre and Chichester Theatre.

The current work follows the completion in 2015 of an award-winning scheme to restore and improve the building’s façade as well as make it more energy efficient.

The Congress Theatre

has been closed since January and will reopen in June 2018.

It is part of the Devonshire Park and includes the tennis club which hosts the annual Aegon International.

Eastbourne Borough Council claims the ambitious and high-profile project will establish Devonshire Park as a premier conference and cultural destination.

The council will have lost considerable revenue from the lack of conferences.