Manchester could be getting a £250 million opera house as a 'payback' for the denial of a license for the country's first super casino.
The opera house is expected to be built in east Manchester, the area that stands to suffer most from the government's decision to deny the gambling license.
Talks are underway between the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and Manchester City Council about building a 'National Opera House' in the north. The project is on a list of several proposals which are being considered by a ministerial task force lead by Salford MP Hazel Blears.
The opera house proposal is believed to be the one that Prime Minister Gordon Brown favors the most. The National Opera House would have to be built with public money, and would go a long way towards creating the 3,000 jobs promised by the failed casino bid.
Graham Stringer, a Manchester Blackley MP, said “It would go some way to providing compensation for a casino and be a great feather in Manchester's cap. Stil, I remain sceptical until I see the colour of the government's money; how the numbers stack up; whether there will be further regeneration; and whether there will be a need for a council tax subsidy. The real disappointments are that a casino would have cost the taxpayer nothing.”
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