Arts centre put up for sale after sudden closure

A landmark arts centre which suddenly closed its doors and cancelled all its upcoming events last year has been put up for sale.

The Square Chapel Arts Centre on Square Road in Halifax town centre closed in February last year, sparking a major campaign for its reopening.

But in late spring this year, His Majesty's Revenue and Customs issued a winding-up order on the Community Interest Company which owns it, forcing the company to close down and go into voluntary liquidation.

A spokesperson for Arts Council England, which is marketing the building, said: "We remain committed to try and return the building to cultural use for the communities of Halifax."

The Arts Council is a creditor as it maintains an interest in the building, due to a legal charge relating to a previous capital award given to the centre.

A spokesperson said the Arts Council had since been working alongside local partners to try and secure the building as a space for cultural and community purposes.

Watling Real Estate, the receiver appointed by Arts Council England, said it was "inviting offers at this time" for the site, which has limits on what it can be used for.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the receiver was appointed by Arts Council England after seeking legal advice and in order to protect its interest in the Square Chapel building, which was originally built in 1772.

The Arts Council spokesperson said: "Following the winding-up order issued to Square Chapel CIC by the High Court in May 2026, we appointed Watling Real Estate, as our Receiver, to act in the interest of all the creditors and to protect the Square Chapel building.

"Under its duties as a Receiver, Watling is now proceeding to market the building.

"We remain committed to try and return the building to cultural use for the communities of Halifax and we will work with Watling and local stakeholders to help facilitate this.

"It is clear in the marketing material that the Arts Council is interested in working with prospective bidders who are looking to deliver continued cultural use of the building.

Arts Council England said it encouraged any parties proposing cultural use of the building to contact Watling directly as they were leading the process.

Watling's brochure describes the 19,166 sq ft (1,780.58 sq m) building as "a landmark, newly refurbished Grade II Georgian chapel and contemporary events venue".

It said the building was part freehold, part long leasehold – the permitted use under the lease being performing arts, live performance, moving image and visual arts and related processes.

The brochure refers to Square Chapel's "high quality extensive refurbishment", noting that a £6.6m renovation was completed nine years ago to revive the space and turn it into a multi-use arts space with a cafe and bar area.

Since its closure last year, major lobbying by the Save Square Chapel Campaign group to get it re-opened and in use again has kept the issue very much in the public eye.

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