Our History

Zion Arts Centre on Stretford Road in Hulme began life in 1911 as the Zion Institute built for the Congregational Church. The Institute comprised sixty rooms, including a magnificent hall of worship, an assembly hall, a gymnasium, games rooms, reading rooms and a canteen.

Zion attracted congregations of a thousand people at both morning and evening Sunday services.  The Institute was also used to the full by the people of Hulme for activities ranging from billiards, table tennis, drama and music classes, cinema screenings and literary lunches to Sunday School lessons, trade union meetings and even racing pigeon sales!

Christmas Day Breakfasts were laid on each year for the children in the area, and in the war years the building served as an air raid shelter.

After the Second World War bombings, Hulme was victim to mass clearance and the majority of the community was rehoused in other areas.  This profoundly affected the life of the Zion and by the 1960s the congregations had shrunk to just twenty.

[Image: ]The Church authorities were forced to rent out the building to other organisations. The Halle Orchestra and Choir arrived in 1964, followed by Northern Ballet Theatre in 1969.  Both organisations remained until 1980s.

Now owned by Manchester City Council, Zion Arts Centre is the oldest surviving building in the area. Although not listed, it is a large and magnificent Edwardian building of outstanding architectural merit which has made a significant contribution to the social, educational and cultural life of Hulme and Manchester throughout most of this century.

See the timeline article BBC Manchester have published about Zion Arts Centre's colouful history!