Exclusive:Cost of King's Theatre revamp hits £40m as reopening is put back till 2026

A long-awaited revamp of Edinburgh's historic King's Theatre has risen above £40 million and will not be ready until 2026 - three years later than originally envisaged.

The price tag for the project has risen by £15m since plans were first announced, with at least £3.5m still to be raised to complete the redevelopment.

All main funders of the project - the Scottish and UK governments, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Edinburgh City Council - will be asked to help bridge the funding gap.

Capital Theatres, who operate the venue for the city council, say the scale and complexity of the ongoing work in the A-listed building has led to the programme taking much longer than anticipated and its cost rising from £35.6m to £40.7m in the space of 12 months.

However chief executive Fiona Gibson insisted the project had turned a corner, with all major demolition work done and 60 per cent of the construction programme now complete.

She told The Scotsman: “We will have to go round the houses again and talk to all our funders again about where we are now and how we can bridge that gap.

“If you think about where this project was when it started, there has only been a 14 per cent increase in the cost of it, which I think is remarkable for a project of this scale in an Edwardian theatre like this. I’m quite proud of what we’ve managed to do so far and we’ve not changed the scope of anything in the project.”

New staircases and lifts are being installed, as well as a ground-floor cafe-bar, a flatter stage to attract a greater variety of performances and improved backstage facilities.

The height of the building has been extended for a new "fly tower" to move scenery, previous bars and foyer areas are being overhauled, while a new dedicated space is being created on the upper floor for classes and workshops.

The new delay means the annual King's pantomime will have to be staged at the Festival Theatre for the fourth year in a row in 2025.

However the venue is expected to be fully available for the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival.

It is hoped all new facilities will be installed by the start of 2026 to allow "soft launch" test events to take place ahead of the first major productions in the spring.

Capital Theatres has apologised for the latest setback, but insisted the project would deliver a "once-in-a-lifetime transformation of one of Edinburgh's most beloved cultural landmarks."

First announced in March 2017, the revamp was originally due to get under way in September 2021 but was significantly delayed by the pandemic.

The King's closed in the summer of 2022, however weeks before work was meant to get under way, it was announced that rising construction industry costs had created a significant funding gap.

Work finally began last spring after the Scottish Government and Edinburgh City Council provided an additional £6.85m, with the UK Government later approving a further £2m.

The "halfway point" of the project was said to have been reached in March of this year, which it was still priced at £35.6m, however it emerged in May that it would not be finished in time for the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival as demolition work was taking longer than expected.

Key factors holding up the programme have included the discovery of "bedrock" much closer to the surface of the area earmarked for one of the new lifts, the complexity of the demolition of previous staircases and the old fly tower, a number of design changes and the need to bring in a new sub-contractor.