Wakefield Exchange
Key details
The Wakefield Exchange project will convert the former Market Hall into a dynamic creative hub. It will offer a lively and communal space for residents and local businesses, contributing to the vitality of the city centre.
Once finished, the venue will provide creative businesses with exhibition and workspaces. This will allow Wakefield to showcase and promote innovative events and creative endeavours.
Plans
- a new creative hub and events space to be completed in 2024
- new workspaces, exhibition, and events spaces by 2024
- six independent food outlets
Benefits
- support for more than 100 local creative businesses and wider creative and digital skills development
- an estimated 300,000 people visiting the city from 2024
- further growth of creative and digital industries
- new employment opportunities in the city
- improving Wakefield’s reputation as a cultural hub
Progress
- December 2022 - Cabinet approved allocation of funding for the scheme
- March 2023 - Construction started in the former Market Hall
Funding
The project is funded and/or supported by the:
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport's Cultural Development Fund
- Creative Hubs Fund
- UK Shared Prosperity Fund
- the Council's Cultural Growth Investment Fund