Olivia PowellConstruction has started on Swansea Arena, part of the first phase of the £1 billion regeneration and transformation of Swansea city centre.
Swansea Arena will joining ATG’s portfolio of nearly 50 operated entertainment venues across the UK, US and Germany.
ATG’s content development director, Katy Arnander, said: “ATG’s global music and comedy programming strategy has had success in the US with the Smart Financial Centre (Sugarland, Texas) and Kings Theatre (Brooklyn, New York) as well as in Germany’s Admiralspalast (Berlin) and Musical Dome (Cologne). This success has come from close collaboration with top talent combined with understanding of the local and regional markets – ensuring we bring the best quality shows to the right venues for the right audiences.
“Swansea Arena is an incredibly exciting addition to ATG; the new arena will be at the forefront of our music, comedy, events and exhibitions strategy as well as presenting new content like gaming and esports which is a perfect fit for such a technologically advanced arena. We are thrilled with our plans for the venue, which will bring some of the world’s best acts to the region.”
The arena marks the start of the council’s £135million ‘Swansea Central’ phase one project which comprises the brand new waterside 3,500 capacity indoor arena as well as new restaurants, shops, a 1.1-acre coastal urban park, city centre apartments, two new multi-storey car parks providing 960 spaces, a digital plaza and a ‘gateway’ landmark pedestrian bridge over Oystermouth Road.
With state-of-the-art facilities for conferences and meeting rooms, Swansea Arena is also due to conferences and events into South West Wales.
Chief executive officer of ATG, Mark Cornell, said: “We are looking forward to entertaining the audiences of Swansea with the best acts from the UK and globally. We have been working with Swansea Council for a period of time now to make the Arena a world class venue for music, comedy, conferencing and events in South Wales.
“ATG has nearly 30 years’ experience of working with councils and managing venues but this is an exciting moment that sees us expanding our portfolio to UK arenas following our success across the UK, US and Germany.”