PLANS for a £9m concert hall in Oxford that could house 1,400 people will depend on the findings of a new study, the school behind the plans said.

St Edward’s School in Woodstock Road is to commission a feasibility study to assess whether the enterprise could be viable.

Warden Stephen Jones said it remained part of ambitious expansion plans involving a new academic building to cope with a rise in pupil numbers.

He said: “It is a really interesting proposal and so we are looking at what the market is, what Oxford’s needs are and whether Oxford could support a concert hall. We will also look at what other places have done.

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“People would have to pay serious ticket prices and there is also the question of how many seats we would provide.”

Funding would not be an issue but it had to be viable, he said.

“For an orchestra like the Hallé and its prestige, I am told by people in the business that you would lose money unless you sold 1,400 seats, so you either subsidise that or build a bigger concert hall.”

The idea was first raised when plans for a £15m music school at the school were lodged with Oxford City Council. They were approved in November.

The hall would be built on the former Lemon Tree restaurant site and neighbouring land currently occupied by Jack FM radio station, just north of the school in Woodstock Road.

Mr Jones said the school’s confidence in the proposals was bolstered by the success of its North Wall Arts Centre, which opened in Middle Way, Summertown, in 2006.

The North Wall hosts events throughout the year and has its own theatre company.

Oxford Mail:

Stephen Jones, warden of St Edward's School.

He said: “As a school we have to put our pupils first – we cannot just put up the costs for the benefit of the city.

“For our point of view we would prefer to build a 1,000-seat facility, that would do us nicely and there is room for it here.”

He said: “If the study finds a proposal that is attractive, then I think people would be willing.

“There are plenty of rich people in the world and Oxford is a very popular city.”

City council executive member for culture and communities Christine Simm said: “We have never had a purpose-built concert hall in Oxford and I think the idea should certainly be explored.

“Whether or not there is sufficient market to support a hall of that size though remains to be seen.

“I will be interested to see the findings of the study.”

The biggest existing venue in Oxford is the Sheldonian Theatre in Broad Street, which takes about 900 people.

But Music At Oxford spokeswoman Laura Ashby said they believed there was sufficient demand to fill a bigger venue.

She said: “To have a bigger capacity would allow us to bring more orchestras to Oxford.”

City of Oxford Orchestra director Lindsay Sandison said: “If people know they can park, they will come.

“If they can’t they will be put off.”


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