Edinburgh's King's Theatre in line for a £3m revamp but £20m of work still needs done

Work to revamp one of Scotland's most iconic theatre buildings will finally get under way in September - but on a much smaller scale than expected.

Less than 3 million is to be spent overhauling the King's Theatre in Edinburgh, despite estimates over the past ten years that more than 20m needs to be spent to bring it up to scratch.

The fourth refurbishment scheme to be drawn up in the space of 14 years is finally expected to be endorsed by councillors next week. But only a handful of improvements will be carried out over the next year, including installing new seating, air conditioning, box office facilities and carrying out repairs to stonework.

The construction of a new stage, major auditorium repairs and roofing repairs, as well as a complete overhaul of the theatre's grand circle, new dressing rooms, better backstage facilities and new heating systems have been put on hold indefinitely.

Earlier schemes failed to get off the ground following a failed lottery bid and long-running disputes between the city council and the trust it set up to run the theatre over the extent of the work required to secure the building's future.

The most recent plans to overhaul the theatre, estimated at around 12m and proposed in 2007, floundered due to the council's wider funding crisis.

Councillors also decided to prioritise a controversial overhaul of another major cultural building in the city's care, the Assembly Rooms, on George Street.

Even getting a more modest scheme off the ground has been dogged with difficulty due to a funding crisis at the Festival City Theatres Trust, which runs the King's and the Festival Theatre on behalf of the council.

The trust has started shedding jobs as part of a bid to save around 300,000 - while the King's Theatre is only expected to open for 15 weeks this year.

The theatre will close to enable the overhaul to be carried out. More than 800 seats in the stalls and grand circle areas will be replaced as part of the revamp project, which will also address "key health and safety issues".

A source at the city council said: "It is far from ideal that these improvements are fairly modest, but they reflect financial reality for both the council and the theatre trust. Finding 20m for a major refurbishment like this could take another five years, and much of this work needs to be carried out before then."

Jim Inch, the council's director of corporate services, said: "The plans are organised into three phases: phase one consists of external works, including stone and roof works; phase two consists of front of house improvements, including air handling, disabled and box office; and phase three comprises seating. The first phase of the works is programmed to be on site in September."

John Stalker, chief executive of the theatres trust, declined to comment last night.