The Horsebridge Arts Centre is hoping to reopen in September.
Zoe Cloke, who chairs the board of trustees, said: “We are eager to reopen as soon as possible but we remain concerned about the safety of our staff and visitors.
“Like many other charities we have been hit by a dramatic drop in income over the past 12 weeks of the coronavirus lockdown. But we don’t want to open prematurely.
“The Board has been busy behind the scenes investigating alternative ways to sustain the viability and is hoping the centre can reopen safely for everyone in September in line with government guidelines.”
Centre director Liz Daone has been contacting tutors for risk assessments to see if any socially-distanced classes can return earlier.
She said: “We need to know when they would like to restart classes, what additional support they may need and if they will require a bigger room to maintain social distancing.”
The centre, which has been awarded £35,000 of emergency funding by the Arts Council of England to cover 80% of its running costs, has been forced to furlough all of its staff, except for two.
During lockdown we have used extensive volunteer support to increase our online presence with our Connection In Isolation initiative.
This includes #1MinuteOutside videos which allow those self-isolating to be transported outdoors; Together Apart which arranges postcards to be sent between the self-isolating and a variety of creative activities for young and old.
