I wondered if we could exchange thoughts, and knowledge about the likely demise of Weymouth Pavilion Theatre; and what can be done? The council have suggested that ‘the Cultural Olympiad proved we do not need a theatre to have an amazing Arts Programme’. So what do others feel about the whole situation; outdoor and site specific work is only fantastic when the weather is. Village halls, schools and other community spaces are fantastic to take some Arts projects to. However traditional venues have their place for The Arts; and can be made to be more ‘chameleon like’ to suit all sorts of events/purpose as shown in venues throughout the land. To knock it down at the cost of £One Million is surely short sighted, and a knee jerk reaction?
If the council are not able run a theatre and function facility then surely they should explore all avenues to engage an organisation: not for profit, CIC, Trust or professional commercial management that can and produce a viable entertainment programme whilst still providing a return for the council taxpayers. But one months notice to produce a proposal to put to the W & P B C Weymouth Pavilion Budget Committee’s scrutiny is unjust and unacceptable. Also the 10 year ‘give it back to us if we want it’ in small print at the bottom of the contract is going to prove pretty unattractive to any approaches from professional or commercial bodies.
I do believe removing this asset to replace with car parking or marine apartments can only be considered as short – sightedness in the extreme and will not benefit the town in the long term.
There are also some strange subsidy figures suggested by the W & P Borough Council of some £700,000.
Now let consider this for instance:
• The Borough Council used the Weymouth Pavilion facilities 301 times last year approx. (conservative estimation) = £210,000 does not show in the Pavilion accounts as they had it for FREE
• The Wey Pavilion Theatre car park fees – around £60,000 – do not show in the Pavilion accounts
• That leaves a true W & P B C subsidy of only £130,000
The figures the Borough Council bandy about are seem rather creative; and this is a worry. Because for anyone approaching the Budget Committee they are up against this sort of exaggeration of costs, and ONLY a 10 year lease before they may take the building back – how can anyone put up a sensible proposal without the accurate budget and accounts for the Pavilion or consider taking it on if in the end it will be demolished after a lot of work has been done?
Please please engage in conversation – what do we do?
Jane McKell
