AUDIENCE SUGGESTS VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO THEATR GWYNEDD’S CLOSURETheatr Gwynedd in Bangor is due to close on 31 October, 2008. Work on the proposed new Arts Centre cannot begin until 2010 at the earliest, and then only if funding is secured. It is understood that no alternative plans have been prepared to cover the possibility that funding for the new Centre cannot be obtained. Following Monday night’s incisive Wales This Week programme, the organizers of a petition signed by 3,400 North West Wales audience members, are suggesting a way forward for Theatr Gwynedd, and are offering the Welsh Assembly Government a final opportunity to respond positively to the needs and demands of the North West Wales audience. At a meeting with Bangor University’s Estates Department on Thursday 23 October, 2008, campaigners were informed that the university had, some time ago, offered the option for a bona fide community organisation to take over Theatr Gwynedd, providing that the organisation was prepared to fund the necessary repairs. This offer was never made public, but it should have been presented to the public as a possible alternative to closure. An auction of Theatr Gwynedd’s facilities is due to take place on 30 October 2008. Because Theatr Gwynedd Company is going into voluntary liquidation, the liquidators have a responsibility to raise as much money as possible. Even though the auction is unlikely to raise a great deal of money, once the facilities have been sold off, this effectively spells the end for Theatr Gwynedd. We challenge the Welsh Assembly Government to offer a suitable figure to the liquidators, so that the facilities can stay in place, and the building can be temporarily mothballed rather than closed. The University also confirmed that the figure required for sufficient repairs to keep the theatre open for at least two years is in the region of £500,000. If Theatr Gwynedd were to be awarded £1 million to make the necessary repairs, and to run Theatr Gwynedd for a minimum of two years, when hopefully funding for the new Arts Centre will be secured, this £1 million grant to North West Wales would represent an investment by the Welsh Assembly Government of less than £1 per week for each of the 10,000 audience members on Theatr Gwynedd’s database, over the two year period. Should funding for the new Arts Centre not be secured, this investment would be even more cost effective over a longer period of time. We challenge the Welsh Assembly Government to invest at least £1 million in Theatr Gwynedd in North West Wales, in order to preserve quality provision for a minimum of two years, and at least until funding for the new Arts Centre has been secured. This investment compares favourably with the £3.5 million awarded annually to the Millenium Centre in Cardiff, and the £13.5 million additional monies awarded to them in November 2007 to wipe out their debts; and also to the £1.9 million awarded to the National Botanic Gardens in Carmarthenshire in February 2008 in order to pay off their overdraft. In the Wales This Week programme, we heard that the Arts Council of Wales are planning, from April 2009, a programme of events to be presented in shopping centres and schools in North West Wales. The reaction to this suggestion is stunned incredulity. It would take us back to the situation pre 1975 when Theatr Gwynedd opened, and that this is not acceptable as a temporary or perhaps permanent measure. The major concern amongst the audience in North West Wales is that they could be permanently deprived of theatre provision. If Theatr Gwynedd is kept open, and necessary repairs carried out, a programme of films could be scheduled almost immediately, and live performances could be scheduled as soon as possible. Key staff could be employed on a freelance basis, with a small number of core workers, including a Manager, employed more permanently. They could also be involved in the temporary arrangements for provision during the transition into the new Centre, once its funding has been secured. For further information, please contact: Ann Jones on 07831 352393, or ann.jos@btinternet.com or Lionel Gardner, 01248 362909 on behalf of The Voice of Theatr Gwynedd’s Audience |
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Saturday, October 25, 2008 |
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