Adam Smith Theatre 'on track' for 2023 reopening after £4.5m revamp

The Adam Smith Theatre was created as a memorial to the great economist and philosopher Adam Smith, who was born in Kirkcaldy, and it is currently undergoing a £4.5 million refurbishment.

Councillors on Fife Council’s community and housing services sub committee heard on Thursday that the works are progressing well and should be completed to mark 300 years since Smith’s birth – with hopes high that a target date of June 2023 will be met.

The news came as committee members considered the annual report of OnFife, formerly known as Fife Cultural Trust, and the massive impact COVID restrictions has had on the organisation.

Heather Stuart, OnFife chief executive, said: “We’re on track with the Adam Smith Theatre and that’s a key focus for us given the importance of the tricentenary celebrations.

“There are particular challenges around supply issues so clearly those challenges have been felt but we’re working on the basis that works are progressing well and we expect everything to be on target.

“It’s going to be an amazing addition to the town centre in Kirkcaldy.”

Looking forward, Fife Council is continuing to provide significant capital investment in theatres and venues.

As well as the Adam Smith project, an upgrade of lighting, sound systems and health and safety measures at Lochgelly Centre, Rothes Halls in Glenrothes and Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline will come with a price tag of around £1 million.

The replacement of the region’s two mobile library vehicles will also cost approximately £300,000.

However, with many venues closed due to COVID over the past two years, OnFife will now focus attention on investing time and resources into understanding the post-COVID environment and customer behaviour to design programming in line with audience expectations.

While expenditure in 2020/21 was reduced by £2.3m when compared to previous years, largely linked to the theatres being closed, OnFife experienced reduced income of £1.15m due to the closures and cessation of all trading activities.

Ms Stuart said she anticipated it will be “three years or more” before the Trust is generating income in line with previous years.