GEORGE NEWS - The Oakhurst Insurance George Arts Theatre in York Street is currently undergoing extensive renovations. 

In the auditorium, seats are being reupholstered, walls repainted and the facelift is completed with new carpets.

These renovations are financed and overseen by Oakhurst Insurance, and are progressing well.

The excited theatre manager, Heather Stead, said this week, "The renovation includes the repainting of the dressing rooms, green room and kitchenette and the painting and sanding of the stage floor, all of which will make a huge difference. 

"We are incredibly grateful to Oakhurst Insurance for their support in renovating George's theatre."

In his book On Looking Back on George, previous museum curator Charles Sayers said that the building which now houses the theatre was built in 1905. It housed a finishing school for girls, known as "Miss Christina's First Class Public School for Girls". 

The stage has been sanded, painted and given a beautiful seal. It is a far cry from the state of disrepair that it was in before the sponsors stepped into the breach.

The building was bought by the George Society of Arts and became a theatre in 1969.

Stead said there is a persistent problem with damp in the main auditorium and especially in the dressing rooms, which originally served as the school's housecraft room. 

"According to local theatre goer Paddy Haldane, the dressing room area was last renovated about 35 years ago."

The theatre's reopening will be celebrated with a members' evening on 27 October and a gala evening scheduled for 4 November.

ARTICLE & PHOTO: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST

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