The Albany Centre has been a thriving venue for around 45 years. Below is an overview of its history over the last few decades. If you have any additional information or photographs relating to The Albany Centre's history we would love to hear from you.
June 1980
Montpelier Community Association lost their home and approached Avon Touring Theatre Company who were looking for rehearsal and office space, to talk about the two redundant Methodist church buildings in need of repair in Montpelier.
August 1980
Bristol City Council lent the Avon Touring Theatre Company £10,500 interest-free to enable them to purchase the two redundant Methodist buildings. One of them, the chapel, was promised to the Montpelier Community Association.
November 1980
The buildings were purchased and the Albany Centre Project was born, with Avon Touring Theatre Company joining forces with a local Youth Opportunities Program. The program employed 4 adults to teach building skills to 20 young trainees while renovating the two buildings.
February 1982
With renovation works on one of the buildings complete, the project reached its conclusion. The Montpelier Community Association changed their name to the Albany Centre Community Association and continued to raise funds towards renovations of the second building.
Unable to raise sufficient funds, Avon Touring and the Albany Community Association decided to pool resources and share use of the one renovated building while major grant applications were underway.
May 1982
The Albany Community Association put on a week long festival of music, theatre and dance to celebrate the completion of the building project. Grants totaling £2,000 were received from South West Arts, Bristol City Council and CRE to go towards festival costs.
September 1982
The Albany Community Association received a grant of £11,443 from the Department of Health and Social Security through the Consortium on Opportunities for Volunteering. This kept the space running for the year and paid for a full-time coordinator to be employed to manage day-to-day proceedings.
October 1983
The Consortium Grant was renewed for another 6 months (£6,906).
December 1983
Unilever Export Ltd awarded the Centre a grant of £6,500 per year for two years to start from April 1984.
February 1984
The Consortium Grant was renewed for a further year (£13,900).
March 1984
The second building, still unused, was demolished because of its dangerous state and lack of funds available to renovate it.
July 1984
A second person was employed as a full-time community worker by the Albany Community Association.
October 1984
Bristol City Council awarded The Albany Centre a grant of £17,000 to support improvements and to purchase a temporary building to operate from whilst the main building underwent essential repairs and refurbishment.
November 1984
A Community Program team was established, operating from The Albany and sponsored by Bristol City Council and MSC. The team included two part-time community development workers, one full-time publicist, and one part-time caretaker/maintenance worker. A new temporary building was purchased to provide office space and another community room.
February 1985
Work on the main building was nearly complete, including a new floor, seating rostra, and general redecoration. The temporary building provided much-needed extra space, allowing a wide program of clubs, classes, and workshops to continue throughout the year while works continued. The Consortium Grant was renewed for another year (£14,471).
1985-1994
The Lost Decade! If you have any info or pictures that can illuminate this lost decade , please get in touch.
1994
The performance licence was lost and the building's main use became youth work. A performance group called Prometheus were hiring the Albany Centre for regular rehearsals. The Albany Circus Club continued to operate, but unfortunately the youth work branch lost its funding and as a result the Albany had no community users left.
1995/6
The Trustees approached Prometheus and asked if they would like to take on responsibility for running the building as they were the main users and no other community interest was shown. Prometheus wanted to take on the building but were aware that it was a big job to run the space; so invited other arts and movement practitioners to join a committee that would keep the space running. The resulting committee comprised a diverse group of theatre practitioners, contemporary dancers, capoieraistas, aerialists, and other skilled circus performers. This group gradually became the Albany Artists and a healthy co-operative was born. The committee met on a regular basis to discuss day-to-day running and future projects.
1999
The first Albany Cabaret was presented as a fundraiser and has become the main fundraising activity that keeps the space running and funds ongoing repairs to the building. It has also gained a cult following and due to increased popularity has grown to a two night event that quickly sells out.
2000
The Albany Collective was registered as a company to make the space more legitimate as a legal entity and as a more formal organisation. The Albany continued to operate as a professional training space as well as offering some classes for the general public. Performers from elsewhere have relocated to Bristol to continue their careers, attracted by the healthy, supportive atmosphere between artists running training spaces as functional cooperatives.
2007
The Albany Centre's bricks and mortar were struggling and in need of considerable repairs; a tall order for an unfunded artist-led organisation without an administrator. The space was, however, still thriving as a training space for professional performers and at this time hosted recreational classes such as Acting and Tai Chi.
2017 – 2023
With the income generated by membership fees and the yearly Albany cabaret, various essential renovation projects could be completed, such as repairing the roof, installing a new dance floor, and masonry restoration work to the front facade of the building. These works helped keep the space usable and made improvements, but much more still needs to be done.
2024
The Albany Centre has converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Present
The Albany Centre is a cooperatively managed space, run by and for artists. It intends to cater to the needs of the circus arts community in the Bristol area by providing an affordable training space and opportunities for artists to become more involved in the day-to-day running of the space.