Historic Isle of Wight building Ryde Town Hall is "almost certain" to be saved, the County Press can reveal, after a community interest company (CIC) — with Isle of Wight Festival organiser John Giddings as its patron — secured an exclusive legal agreement to purchase the premises.
CIC Ryde Revival is in 'advanced' talks with the town hall's current owner to take over the empty site, which was once home to Ryde Theatre.
The CIC is made up of several "impassioned individuals", including the festival organiser and local, Helen Keogan.
Helen emphasised that the deal had not yet gone through and wanted to "manage public expectation".
But she said the current owner has worked "fantastically" well with Ryde Town Council and Ryde Revival and praised them for their "extreme patience" throughout the process.
Speaking to the County Press, Helen said: "It is a much-loved building and we want to make sure we put something together that the people of Ryde want.
"It has got to be something with huge quality and accessibility."
She said the potential purchase is "third time lucky", following Ryde Town Council's previous, failed attempts to acquire the building.
Last year, Ryde Town Hall Trust was also set up through a working group to explore options, but any deal did not come to fruition.
Isle of Wight Council leader and Ryde councillor, Phil Jordan, said the 'measured approach' taken towards the town hall appears to have "saved the future of the building for the community of Ryde and the Island for generations to come."
He said he had been informed a CIC, now known to be Ryde Revival, had agreed an 'option to buy' in a lock-out agreement.
The town hall closed in 2010 and in the years that followed, the building has been subject to repeated vandalism.
It remains empty to this day.
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