Sad news as £15m Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre in Liverpool is shelved after project fails to secure Lottery and other sources of funding. Tony McDonough reports
There was joy a year ago when council planners in Liverpool gave the go-ahead to the Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre but that has now turned to sadness as the project is shelved.
Due to be built next door to the Royal Court Theatre, the four-storey Happiness Centre would have been a permanent celebration of the life and career of the legendary comic who died in March 2018.
The Royal Court, working with The Comedy Trust and The Sir Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation, submitted plans in autumn 2023 for the brand new building. It would have housed Sir Ken’s archive as well as a new 100-seat restaurant and secured planning consent in August 2024.
It would also have celebrated the city’s rich comedy heritage, offering a range of activities and events for the public to enjoy alongside performances by a variety of entertainers.
Following an unsuccessful application to the National Heritage Lottery Fund in December 2024, the trustees of the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation and the Royal Court Liverpool Trust have worked for the past eight months to secure alternative funding avenues, but both have cited a challenging public funding backdrop for new capital projects.
Both have already invested in the development, design and planning of the project with a pledge from KDCF to cover two thirds of the cost of a new build.
Before he died in 2018 Sir Ken had set up his own charity foundation to support performing arts charities and organisations across the UK, particularly in Merseyside.
KDCF is run by trustees including Anne, Lady Dodd, who leads the foundation and has played an active role supporting many good causes since the passing of her husband.
She said: “It is with a heavy heart and only after much deliberation that the trustees of the Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation reluctantly decided to withdraw support for the Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre project.
“Ken loved the city of Liverpool, the people who live here and the marvellous Merseyside sense of humour. Comedy was Ken’s life, and he was always eager to help, advise and offer encouragement to new comedians and new talent.
“An iconic museum and heritage attraction where entertainers could rehearse and perform, linked to a permanent exhibition of Ken’s treasured artefacts and joke books, would have been a most fitting tribute to a man who was viewed as a national icon.”
Considered to be one of Britain’s finest-ever comedians, Sir Ken died at the home in Knotty Ash in Liverpool he had lived in all his life. Mourners packed out Liverpool Cathedral for the funeral of the man affectionately known as ‘Doddy’.
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Gillian Miller, chief executive of the Royal Court Theatre, added: “Since the disappointing setback of failing to achieve a grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund, we have spent the past eight months trying to find alternative funding.
“Sadly, in the current economic climate, we have been unable to find the additional funding required for the construction of this new building and alternative schemes do not meet requirements.”