How Crucible in Sheffield will look after £45m upgrade to keep World Snooker
This is how the Crucible will look after a £45m upgrade set to transform productions including World Snooker.
The iconic theatre is to have an extra 500 seats installed - to create 1,500 in total - so audiences will be on every side of the stage, or ‘in the round’.
But it will retain the ability to go back to the three-sided configuration it has today, called a thrust stage.
The investment follows the personal intervention of prime minister Keir Starmer.
Earlier this week the city council and World Snooker Tour announced the contest would stay in the city until at least 2045.
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Tom Bird, chief executive and Elizabeth Newman, artistic director, of Sheffield Theatres said the flexibility of the upgrade opened up “radical new possibilities for collaboration,” connecting with audiences and telling stories.
It will also allow the Crucible to sell more tickets. A Christmas Carol, last December, was sold out, Ms Newman said.
Work on the Grade II listed venue is set to start in summer 2028 and end in time for the snooker in 2030.
Barry Hearn, president of Matchroom Sport, majority owner of World Snooker Tour, said no venue meant more to him than the Crucible.
“For over 50 years I have been promoting sport all over the world but no venue on this planet means more to me than the Crucible.
“I am so happy that after a long period of meetings and discussions we have finally agreed a deal to stage the World Championship at its historic home – the Crucible.”