Two of Colchester's best-loved arts institutions have been handed almost £1 million by the Government to help them survive the coronavirus crisis.

The Mercury Theatre has secured more than £850,000 to complete the final stages of its £10 million revamp and Colchester Arts Centre will receive £128,000.

The theatre has received £864,000 from Arts Council England’s Cultural Capital Kickstart Fund, part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

As a registered charity, the theatre relies on ticket sales, but it has been forced to close throughout the pandemic.

Covid-19 also affected the completion date of the theatre’s £10 million Mercury Rising project, leading to additional costs for the redevelopment.

The cash will help meet the extra costs and enable Colchester Council to bring forward landscape works at Balkerne Gate.

The theatre’s executive director Steve Mannix said: “We are all overjoyed and thankful for this lifeline which will enable us to ensure we can now fully complete this vital transformation to our wonderful theatre, reopen to our audiences and return to making a vital contribution to the economy of Colchester.

“We are extremely grateful to Colchester Council, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Arts Council England . This funding will enable us to finish this capital project and what we set out to do - complete the theatre’s transformation and prepare for a fully Covid-safe reopening as soon as possible.

“The public have been incredibly generous in their support of our fundraising efforts throughout our Mercury Rising campaign, including our recent text-giving and crowdfunding campaigns, for which we truly thank them.

“We continue to value this wonderful support and will need our community behind us more than ever as we open our doors to welcome everyone back.”

The Mercury Rising project will see the theatre made fully accessible with a revamped entrance, a new café and bar, additional rehearsal and community space and a larger main auditorium.

Once complete it will create several jobs as well as aim to make the Mercury a key cultural destination for the east.

Julie Young, Colchester Council’s culture and performance boss, said: “The importance of the arts and culture to our town cannot be stressed enough – not just for the obvious reason that they enrich our lives, but because of the significant economic contribution they make to Colchester as the creative capital of Essex.

“That is why we are proud to have supported the Mercury to expand and improve its facilities for the benefit of Colchester and the region.”

Colchester’s MP Will Quince added: “The £864,000 funding will help finalise the Mercury Rising project, which includes the completion of our new and improved Mercury Theatre, and I hope people are as excited as I am to visit our theatre once again when it reopens.”

One of Colchester’s best loved entertainment venues has also been handed a £128,000 lifeline by the Government.

Colchester Arts Centre is set to receive the cash from Arts Council England’s Capital Kickstart grants programme.

The attraction, which is a converted church, has been closed since March but has been using the time to give the facilities a much-needed revamp.

Its walls are being given a lick of paint and comfier seats installed in order to host more seated shows in the future, whilst the toilets are being overhauled to bring them up to modern day standards.

The grant funding will allow the arts centre to complete the project before it reopens, hopefully in the near future.

Director Anthony Roberts said: “We are thrilled and delighted to receive this boost in our ambition to create a genuinely beautiful and fully accessible arts centre for our community.  “2020 has been a difficult and challenging year for us all, we are grateful to the Government for their financial support during this time.”

The arts centre hopes to reopen at soon as possible.

For updates, visit colchesterartscentre.com.