Nottingham City Council is still unable to confirm a reopening date for Nottingham Castle after saying it was hoping to do so this month. The Nottingham Castle Trust confirmed on November 21 it had started the process of entering liquidation, having operated the venue on behalf of Nottingham City Council.
The Castle had originally reopened in June 2021 after a three-year £33million renovation. Despite a goal for it to open as a "world-class" heritage site, it was marred by a number of high-profile incidents.
The Nottingham Castle Trust said the coronavirus pandemic and inflation were among the reasons why it was "no longer workable" for it to operate the venue. Since the announcement, Nottingham City Council has pledged to reopen the Castle as soon as possible, whilst some protestors have called for the grounds of the venue to open whilst a decision is made on its future.
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Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis, portfolio holder for leisure, culture and planning at Nottingham City Council, said at a meeting on January 9 that he would be in a position later this month to announce when Nottingham Castle would reopen. But with the end of January approaching, Councillor Kotsonis says he is not yet in a position to confirm a reopening date.
In a statement, Councillor Kotsonis said: "We are making good progress but are not yet in a position to announce an opening date. We know the significance of the Castle for our city so this is a top priority and something we have a skilled and senior team working on, tackling it with pace and rigour, but it is vitally important that we get it right for Nottingham.
"We remain absolutely committed to reopening the site as soon as possible, but importantly, that the Castle is reopened in a way that delivers what Nottingham people need from our internationally-significant heritage asset. As soon as we can share more news with the city, we will."
Councillor Pavlos Kotsonis confirmed at the January 9 meeting that he was chairing the Nottingham Castle Transition Board, set up to examine the venue's future. Nottinghamshire Live has asked for a list of that board's members, but the council said the board held purely internal meetings and that any decisions would still be made through existing channels such as the council's Executive Board.
In his latest statement, Councillor Kotsonis added: "Since the site was handed back to the council from Nottingham Castle Trust's liquidators, our initial focus has been to ensure that the site and the collections are safe, secure and appropriately managed. We have also been reviewing options of how best to reopen the site to the public.
"We are looking at how this can be done in a way which ensures the future of the Castle will be viable without creating additional risk to the council and the taxpayer. We also need to ensure that any proposals meet with the agreement of our funding partners and we continue to have positive meetings with them."
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