Campaigners battling to keep adult education courses going at the "quintessentially Norwich" Wensum Lodge are to stage a demonstration as its closure looms.
Supporters of the centre will protest in Norwich on Saturday to send a message to the council leaders who voted to shut the King Street venue.
The Conservative-controlled cabinet at Norfolk County Council made a decision in the summer to stop adult learning services at the riverside building and to pave the way for it to be sold.
Some of the courses which had been offered there have already moved to other venues, with the entire centre due to shut by Christmas.
The Friends of Wensum Lodge group, which has organised the protest on the steps of City Hall at midday on Saturday includes students who have taken courses at the King Street venue, as well as tutors who taught them.
The group says it wants to work with others to make Wensum Lodge a creative and learning centre for the city and county, as well as turning it into a hub for community activities.
Stephanie Northen, chairwoman of the Friends of Wensum Lodge community group, said: "It will mean the loss of a much-loved institution that has helped people settle into the city, learn a craft or improve their English and maths.
"It will also mean the loss of valuable facilities for sculpting, printmaking, silversmithing and pottery.”
She said it was ironic that, at the same time the council is shutting Wensum Lodge, it is spending £17m in Great Yarmouth to turn the former Palmer's department store into a community hub called The Place.
That will include a public library, adult learning provision, a registry office and other community services such as Citizens Advice.
Ms Northen said: "The decision to invest in The Place directly contradicts the county council’s argument that people now prefer online learning.”
READ MORE: Norwich's Wensum Lodge gets community asset protection
Norwich-based author Joyce Dunbar said: "Wensum Lodge is quintessential Norwich, embodying many of its values, and deserves to continue.”
Council leader Kay Mason Billig previously said conversations about the building's future were going on "behind the scenes" and she hoped for a "positive outcome".
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