Theatre to go dark ‘to take stock’

The Hackney Empire, rescued by a £15m refurbishment programme and reopened four years ago, is to close in January “for a period of reflection” on its financial crisis.

Interim chief executive Clarie Middleton said the theatre would go dark in January, after the pantomime run, and staff will be made redundant retaining only a skeleton team. Middleton, who replaced Simon Thomsett in August, said the plans were for the Empire to reopen for the 2010-11 panto season.

The Empire, built a century ago by Frank Matcham as a music hall, was refurbished after a passionate fund-raising campaign led by TV personality Griff Rhys Jones.

Revenue funded by both the Arts Council and hackney Council, Middleton denied that pressure had been put on the board to close. She said the situation was similar to that at the Bristol Old Vic two years ago which closed while a new business plan and future artistic programme was devised, and has now reopened. Middleton also presided over the Bristol Old Vic’s reorganisation, and that at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

“The idea is that we stop, take a breath and take stock of the way the organisation operates” she told The Stage newspaper. She said she hoped that it would be flourishing again in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

“This is the board’s plan” said an ACE spokesman. “Of course, we and the London Borough of Hackney have been in very close conversation with them for quite a considerable period of time, but the changes that are taking place at the Empire and the measures that they are having to bring into make that happen is the plan of the board.”

A group of MPs have called for the MLA to be stripped of its responsibilities for libraries.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on libraries claims that there is too much confusion amongst various bodies with responsibilities for library governance and leadership. It wants the government to establish a Library Development Agency for England with a remit to champion libraries, share good practice and provide leadership. It also wants to end the split between government funding for libraries and functional responsibility which is currently shared by two government departments, the DCLG and the DCMS. A single government department should have both responsibilities, says the group.

The move follows an by the all party group, which was funded by the National Literacy Trust and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, which has a history of clashes with the MLA.
Roy Clare, chief executive of the MLA said:

“The MLA has a job to do and is clear about its remit as the government’s lead agency for developing and improving England’s museums, libraries and archives. We are seeing daily evidence of the advantages of integrating library, museum and archive services with each other – and also with other forms of local service delivery. We see this convergence as both cost-effective and offering better quality services. We doubt that there is wisdom now in forcing libraries backwards into silos.”
The DCMS is due to report on the results of its own review on library services later this year.

Bletchley Park, the historic site of secret British code breaking activities during World War Two and birthplace of the modern computer, has finally won approval for a grant bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The HLF has agreed a first round pass of £460,500. This means that can now move on to the next stage of their development plans before a firm funding decision is made by HLF on a further bid for £4.1million. The museum wants to carry out urgent repairs to key buildings, improve visitor facilities and expand the site’s educational programmes
Other major award winners sharing £13.3 million worth of grants are All Souls Church in Bolton, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, Vindolanda in Northumberland and Stowe Landscape Gardens in Buckinghamshire. Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire also get £220,000 towards a potential application of nearly £2.5million to restore a rare Grade II* Victorian conservatory.
Carole Souter, chief executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund, said:
“Today’s projects are perfect examples of the breadth of our heritage: a 19th-century church in the heart of Bolton; a maritime archive of global importance; a Roman settlement providing a snapshot of the ancient world; and spectacular 18th-century landscape gardens.” The Bletchley Park Trust has made a number of previous attempts to secure Lottery funding and earlier this year won £1 million from English Heritage and Milton Keynes Council to carry out urgent repairs. The Trust estimates it needs £10 million in all for its proposals.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has launched a fundraising campaign to buy the Anglo-Saxon treasure Hoard in a bid to keep the find in the Midlands.
The museum, together with Stoke-on-Trent Potteries Museums needs to raise the funds within four months to meet Treasure Act guidelines. The Hoard has yet to be valued but is estimated to be worth several million pounds.
The campaign has the support of the British Museum, which will value and auction the 1,500 pieces of buried treasure in November.
The Hoard, which dates from the 7th Century, is the largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. It was uncovered by metal detectorists in a field in Staffordshire. On show at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery until October 13, it attracted 10,500 people to see it in the first three days.
The museum believes that money from the Heritage Lottery Fund or the Art Fund will not be enough to buy the treasure and is seeking donations from charitable trusts, benefactors and the general public.

Plans for a new headquarters for the Design Museum on the site of the former Commonwealth Institute have been given the green light by councillors.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s planning committee, on a casting vote, has approved the controversial proposal to revamp the existing 1960s building to a design by iconic architect Rem Koolhas.

The move will give the Design Museum three times more space, says director
Deyan Sudjic, “We are thrilled with the outcome which now opens the way for the Design Museum to realise its vision of becoming a world leading creative centre for design and architecture”.

The Grade II listed former Commonwealth Institute building, now known as the Parabola, has been largely unoccupied since 2001 but English Heritage objected to the original changes, including the size of proposed new blocks of flats surrounding the building. English heritage has still to comment on the revised plan and objectors hope it will call in the application.

The Design Museum’s plans are to be part-financed by the developers, with a contribution of £20 million toward the cost of the restoration, and the donation of a long-term lease at a peppercorn rental.

Birmingham Conservation Trust has attacked the regional development agency for pulling out of a major scheme to regenerate the city’s 19th century former coffin works as a museum and visitor centre.
The trust says the agency’s sudden decision to withdraw a promised £1.5 million grant has left it in a difficult financial position.
The development agency, Advantage West Midlands and the Conservation Trust had agreed to restore the derelict Grade II* listed Newman Brothers building in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter in 2002. After the building, which is on English Heritage’s Buildings at Risk register, was featured in the BBC Restoration programme, English Heritage also agreed a £250,000 grant for the scheme.
But AWM withdrew funding earlier this year because of a shortfall in government funding.
The Conservation Trust has suggested that AWM cut its grant instead, allowing the former coffin works to be reopened for commercial use, with the museum and visitor centre to be opened at a later date. But AWM have not responded.
Trust director Elizabeth Perkins said,” They really don’t understand heritage and they haven’t thought about the consequences of owning a historic listed building.”
She added, “Most of our income is drawn at the end of a project. If our partner pulls out, the loss of income is a significant setback for the sustainability of our small charity.”

The Scottish government plans to maintain overall spending on culture, despite a cut in the government’s budget.
Culture minister Michael Russell said that he would continue to spend on his major priorities - setting up Creative Scotland, support for Gaelic culture and promoting Scotland abroad. However, he admitted this will mean cuts in support for “innovative cultural initiatives.”
He added that the Scottish government would continue backing major capital projects to widen access to Scotland’s national archives and collections.
The budget for Scotland’s National Performing Companies, which was originally meant to be £27.4 million is down to £26 million.
Local government supported arts organisations are also likely to face reductions, say observers, as the budget will mean a cut in grants to local authorities.
The Scottish Government’s draft Budget 2010-11 is published at: www.scotland.gov.uk/draftbudget2010-11

The Hippodrome theatre in Ashton under Lyme has been saved from demolition after English Heritage listed the building.
The Grade II listing means that owners Tameside Council cannot go ahead with plans to demolish the 1904 theatre and sell the site to developers. The theatre was closed in March 2008 after the council said it could not afford the £3 million to make it fit for use. The theatre was marketed in June but failed to attract a buyer, leaving the council with no alternative but recommend its demolition, say officials.
But campaigners lobbied for the building to be restored as a theatre and pressed for the listing.
Cllr Kieran Quinn, executive member for economic services, said the decision to list the building was “ disappointing”. He added,”We need time to think through the implications of what has happened.”
• In Derby a campaign group has been formed to lobby for a £14 million development plan for the threatened Hippodrome theatre there.
They want Derby City Council to restore the theatre as part of a regeneration scheme. The council stopped owner Christopher Anthony from demolishing part of the building without permission last year and is considering a planning application for full demolition. .
|The alternative proposal would see the Hippodrome with a modernised auditorium and new fly tower and an additional storey built to house a restaurant.

North East Somerset Arts (nesa) fears that it may have to lay off staff and cut its local projects because of a £25,000 shortfall in funding.

The community arts group, which runs projects to help vulnerable groups such as those with mental health difficulties or hard to reach young people, says that its income from trusts and foundations has dwindled as a result of the recession and public sector funding is likely to fall from next year.

Describing the shortfall as a “crisis,” nesa director Lesley Featherstone said,” There is much less money available this year, and more people going for it.” The arts organisation, which has been working with artists on small community based projects since 1981 is not a regularly funded organisation, but received money from the Arts Council’s Grants for the Arts awards and from the local council.

But Ms Featherstone said the local authority had also warned of cuts in non-statutory provision from next year. “That presumably means us.” Funding for youth projects with nesa had been cut 18 months ago, she said.

Unless the shortfall is bridged, nesa will have to shed jobs and her own post would have to go part-time, she said.

ENDS

New research from Arts & Business shows that individual giving to the arts is not confined to the wealthy, but art lovers in general will donate.

The report, carried out by City University, shows that 90% of donors give between £1 and £1,000 a year, and that individual giving has increased by 128% since 2000/01.

The report says that the most common reason for lower and mid-level donors was local pride and having a personal connection with the arts organisation or project.

It also found that cultural givers have been resilient in the recession so far, with 72% of respondents to the survey saying their donations would not be affected. The remainder said they would be more discerning about their gifts, but would not stop giving to the arts.

There is a correlation between donors and ticket-buyers, the research found, and recent DCMS figures showing that 60% of adults attended three or more cultural events a year was encouraging for giving. “If everyone who attends this frequently could be persuaded to become a donor and gave at least £10 a year, then the arts and cultural sector could be bringing in an additional £360 million a year” the report says.

“The future of the UK’s cultural economy is more and more dependent on funding from the private sector” said Colin Tweedy, chief executive of A&B. “Our report identifies that it is not only the rich that can financially support and protect the arts, it is also the local audience.”