Part of former Northumberland middle school set to be developed into art gallery
A Grade II listed building that formed part of a former middle school will be redeveloped into a ‘landmark’ art and gallery space.
The Fellside building in Hexham was the town’s Grammar School before becoming part of Hexham Middle School, but has stood empty since the school relocated in 2021.
In recent years, the building has been used by the BBC as the primary filming location for the CBBC drama series The Dumping Ground.
While the wider school site is to be redeveloped as a housing estate, the Fellside building, which dates back to 1910, will be retained and re-purposed.
Northumberland County Council is to go out for procurement for tenders in June to develop the site for a range of housing, from assisted living to affordable homes. A specific requirement will be that the developer works positively to facilitate the interest in conversion of the Fellside building into a new landmark art and gallery space.
Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “This is a flagship site in Hexham and we want to ensure its future use benefits the whole town.
“Hexham has a long and proud connection to the arts, and we know there is enthusiasm for an expanded arts presence. We are committed to ensuring all residents have the opportunity to enjoy the arts.
“We had already identified the Fellside building as a potential option for a new arts space and it is our firm intention to ensure whoever develops the site brings forward this art and gallery space, along with a wide range of housing tailored to meet different local needs, in the heart of the town.
“The redevelopment of this site is just one element of the continuing regeneration work in Hexham, which includes the construction of a new depot in Tyne Mills which will improve services and provide much greater value for money for residents, increase our vehicle workshop capacity by 50% and significantly improve working conditions and welfare for over 127 staff who work there.”
The arts town initiative aims to ‘foster creativity and culture’ by celebrating ‘the arts in all its forms’. There are plans to create space for artistic activities and performance spaces, with the Queen’s Hall venue hosting freelance co-working days for local artists.
There had been hopes that the town’s former fire station would be converted into a gallery by the Antony Gormley Foundation. However, this was blocked by the council in order to facilitate the expansion of the Tyne Mills depot referenced by Cllr Sanderson.
The move caused a considerable row between the council’s leadership and Hexham councillors. Despite this, Hexham mayor Coun Derek Kennedy welcomed the plans for the Fellside building.
He said: “Hexham’s ambition is to be an arts town. The Fellside building, which is listed, has been empty since the school became redundant.
“The BBC have been using it for productions, but only on a temporary basis – the feeling was we would really like it to be part of the arts town. We would really like to see that happen.
“While the rest of the school will be taken over as a housing development, it would be really complicated and expensive to make the Fellside building into accommodation.
“We’re trying to really look at what Hexham’s unique selling point is. There’s an awful lot of artists, musicians and performers in the town and an awful lot of people working together to establish an arts town provision.
“We would see this as being a central plank in that. We did have ambitions for the Antony Gormley site at the fire station, but the council had other ideas.”