A local dance company is hoping to secure £2 million of funding to turn a former public library into a community dance studio
Rubicon offers classes for anyone who just wants to have a dance (Courtesy of Rubicon)
An empty former library in Roath is set to be transformed into a dance studio by a local dance centre.
The Adamstown based centre, Rubicon Dance, applied to take over the old library site to expand their studios in late 2017.
The community dance centre has been running subsidised dance classes in Cardiff for over 30 years and secured the formerly council-owned premises in Roath earlier this year.
The refurbishment of the library been selected to compete with other causes to win £25,0000 by the Aviva Community Fund.
Projects entered into Aviva’s funding competition will have to secure the most votes from the general public before they are judged by a panel of experts for their suitability for the funding.
The Aviva funding is only the beginning of Rubicon’s fundraising efforts, said the centre’s coordinator, Adam Lloyd-Binding.
“We’re hoping to be in there in 2020,” said Adam, “there’s a full refurb needed, it’s the roof, windows, floors. It’s basically a shell of a building.”
The old library building has stood empty for 2 years (Courtesy of Rubicon)
The project needs £2 million of donations to transform the space, Adam said some of the cash will “hopefully” come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, charitable events and bag packing.
Rubicon Dance aims to give Cardiff what it needs to become more active, said Adam.
According to a report by Public Health England, physical inactivity costs the UK £7.4 billion annually.
Rubicon hopes that the new dance studios can help them to expand their already fully booked classes and encourage local people to be more active.
Adam said: “we are contributing to improving the health of Cardiff as a whole.”
The new studios will hold classes for all ages from toddlers aged 18 months to elderly people in care homes.