SPECTRUM Arena, the former concert venue and sports centre at Birchwood, is officially back in business.

The £11 million centre was built in 1980 by the Commission for New Towns but much to the dismay of local people, it closed in 1988.

The Arena has now been bought by Coastpine, a property company, who has hired promoters, the Gandey Organisation from Congleton, to manage the site.

The Gandey Organisation numbers performers like the Chinese State Circus and the Bolshoi Circus on Ice on its books. The company will provide staff for forthcoming events and if these shows are successful, permanent staff will be employed in the future.

Promotions manager Danielle Bennett said: "The Arena is undergoing a £250,000 refurbishment at the moment. The building itself will look very similar, but we have knocked down a few walls.

"We want to build Spectrum Arena up as a venue for concerts and exhibitions. There are no plans yet for the sports facilities to be reopened, because it would not be financially viable, though this may change in the future as we could use the other rooms."

Seating for between 1,500 and 1,700 people is built around a central show area and seats can be retracted to allow maximum use of the floor space. Forthcoming shows include Chubby Brown, The Hollies and the Bootleg Beatles, and future sports championships, including basketball competitions, have not been ruled out. A health club is also a possibility.

Birchwood Councillor Paul Ross said: "It is wonderful that Spectrum Arena is up and running again. I have already booked for two shows!

"There has been a lot of support and loyalty from the local community and I think it is smashing."

Spectrum Arena has also been used in the past for the recording of television programmes.

The leader of Warrington Borough Council, Cllr John Gartside, said: "We are very pleased that this valuable resource is back in use and hope that people will support it.

"We will encourage the use of Spectrum, not only for entertainment, but also use by television companies for the filming of independent programmes."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.