THEATRE bosses are to spend around £30,000 to upgrade the delapidated toilets at the King's Hall/Winter Gardens complex in Ilkley.

The work will be carried out in the next two months and should see dramatic improvements at the Edwardian theatre to ladies, gents and disabled toilets.

The upgrade will be a welcome relief for residents who want to spend a penny when they visit one of the shows at the Station Road complex.

The news was announced yesterday by Bradford Theatres manager John Botteley, who said that the work will improve the heavily criticised front area of the complex.

He said that the work will be carried out without causing disruption to any of the events taking place.

And the end of this month sees the expiry of the deadline for an Arts Council grant application to provide the first step in restoring the whole complex.

But hopes are not high in the town that any funding will be forthcoming to recreate the original splendour of the theatre buildings in the near future.

At a public meeting last December, Mr Botteley promised that the frustrating wait for Ilkley residents would be over this month when a decision on Arts Council funding would be announced.

Even if Arts Council funding is forthcoming, this would only be enough to carry out a study how to restore the buildings. The actual cash to carry out the work would be the subject of a further application many months down the line.

Mr Botteley told residents that he was confident the money would be forthcoming and reiterated his commitment to the complex.

But Ilkley councillor Anne Hawkesworth said yesterday that she did not share Mr Botteley's upbeat mood.

"If we don't get the money I will be disappointed but not exactly surprised. The issue seems to have gone on forever we seem to have done nothing but talk about it," said Coun Hawkesworth.

She added: "As a district councillor and a parish councillor I am becoming increasingly impatient with this site. It is not appropriate that a town like Ilkley should have a dilapidated public resource. Many user groups within Ilkley must be in exactly the same position."

The sorry state of the buildings has saddened many residents and parish councillors, although this did not deter Ilkley couple Mark Ayers and Lesley Marshall from holding their wedding there

earlier this year, when the complex was granted a civil marriage licence.

Alternative forms of funding for restoring the buildings have also been suggested. From booking fees the revenue is around £50,000 a year which is not enough to cover maintenence.

But there has been support in Ilkley for the idea of handing over control to the parish councillors who could use car park revenue to manage the King's Hall.

Mr Botteley said that the delays over funding applications had resulted in a change of the rules forcing council officers to start again from scratch.

But Coun Hawkesworth said even if the Arts Council gave the thumbs up to the grant application, no actual money for restoration would be handed over.

"It is not actually saying we can have any money to sort it out, it is just a study to see what can be done," said Coun Hawkesworth.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said yesterday that the Arts Council decision notice had not yet been received.

Mr Botteley has stated that if the Arts Council decided against funding the study, an application for Lottery Heritage money to carry out restoration work could be made.

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