Business is ‘proud to play a part’ in historic transformation of Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre

A landscaping firm has completed work on an important component of a £54 million refurbishment of Eastbourne’s new cultural, sporting and conference quarter.
The Burleys teamThe Burleys team
The Burleys team

The contract on behalf of Eastbourne Borough Council was for Burleys to landscape the grounds of the town’s newly renovated Congress Theatre, which was unveiled this weekend with a sellout concert by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The two-year refurbishment saw the 1,680 seat Grade II* listed theatre restored to its original condition, with major improvements including new heating and air conditioning systems, the installation of a state-of-the-art lighting bridge and the replacement of old electrical equipment.

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Burleys operations director Paul Norton said: “We were thrilled to have won the contract to carry out the landscaping for this very prestigious project. “The Devonshire Quarter is to become the jewel in Eastbourne’s cultural and sporting crown and is designed to put it very firmly on the conference destination map.

“Our work will be seen and admired by thousands of people every year and we are very proud to play a part in this historic, once in a lifetime, transformation.

“In just a week our talented and dedicated team managed to transform beds of bare earth into swathes of impactful displays of shrubs which will be dotted with spikes of colour interest at different seasons, giving visual interest to visitors all year round.”

The Congress Theatre is considered architecturally on a par with buildings such as The National Theatre and Chichester Theatre.

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The refurbishment is part of Eastbourne Borough Council’s £54 million project to create The Devonshire Quarter, a first-class cultural, conferencing and sporting complex.

A welcome building will provide conference halls, break out and hospitality areas and the site’s central box office, practice tennis courts will be finished in time for the town’s international tennis tournament in June 2020 and an elegant new plaza will provide an attractive gateway into the theatres, conference facilities and art gallery.

Built in 1963, with an inaugural concert by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the theatre has been closed since January 2017 for the renovations to take place.

Performances coming up over the next few months include appearances by comedians Dara O’Briain and Jasper Carrott, and Mike and the Mechanics.

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