Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue

[Guest Anonymous]

This project is going to get funding from external sources. No doubt lottery funding - so it's not going to the a 9.1m spend on the original building. I think it will be a fraction of that, however. Running costs are a concern, as is the utilisation of the resource.

 

It clearly states in the times that it will cost 6.1million PLUS fees and the equipment to fill it(hence nearly 9 would be nearer the mark) I totally agree with Mr Mansons letter it is obvious that they are thinking about the big picture and not just protecting thier businesses which of course would be badly hit and no doubt some will close and a lot of people will lose thier jobs.

[Guest Anonymous]

This project is going to get funding from external sources. No doubt lottery funding - so it's not going to the a 9.1m spend on the original building. I think it will be a fraction of that, however. Running costs are a concern, as is the utilisation of the resource.

 

It clearly states in the paper that this will cost 6.1million PLUS fees and equipment to fill it(hence 9 would be nearer the mark) I totally agree with Mr Mansons letter in the paper. It is obvious that they are thinking of the big picture and not just protecting thier own buisiness which will obviously be badly effected and indeed will probably lead to places closing down and certainly people will undoubtately lose thier jobs. One thing is crystal clear we cannot afford to build or to upkeep the running of this project

[JAStewart]

Surely if shetland population is declining and set to continue that way (since the oil is drying up, lets face it), why should we build it. I'm for a music venue but not cinema.

[DavyR]

Mmmm – not sure a music venue / cinema should be funded by public funds. If it is a viable thing, maybe it should be done by private individuals and run as a profit making venture.

 

Seems a strange coincidence to me that the Lerwick publicans are mounting a campaign against it two weeks before the no-smoking ban comes into force.

 

I guess they are seeing the potential for their businesses to go down the pan. Some of them might need to finally pull their fingers out and make their venues more attractive to the general (non-smoking / non-drinking) public.

 

Dave.

[Guest Anonymous]

Mmmm – not sure a music venue / cinema should be funded by public funds. If it is a viable thing, maybe it should be done by private individuals and run as a profit making venture.

 

Seems a strange coincidence to me that the Lerwick publicans are mounting a campaign against it two weeks before the no-smoking ban comes into force.

 

I guess they are seeing the potential for their businesses to go down the pan. Some of them might need to finally pull their fingers out and make their venues more attractive to the general (non-smoking / non-drinking) public.

 

Dave.

 

 

What about all the people they employ who have families to feed and rent to pay. At the end of the day lots of people will lose thier jobs our council tax will go up and we will have to keep pumping more money into this place to keep it afloat. We cannot continue to throw money down the pan

[Guest Anonymous]

I heard today they were going to charge the losses to education

[McFly]

Mmmm – not sure a music venue / cinema should be funded by public funds. If it is a viable thing, maybe it should be done by private individuals and run as a profit making venture.

 

The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen is publicly funded. It has a remit to develop arts of all kinds for as many groups in the community as possible. And it's a tremendous success.

 

I lived in Aberdeen for many years and the cultural life of the city would be much poorer without the Lemon Tree.

 

I think it's a really good concept to have a publicly funded arts development centre, and given the right management and creative programs the Shetland community would benefit greatly from it.

 

Surely it doesn't have to be in direct competition with all the dreary drinking dens Shetland already has?

[JustMe]

Ok so the Lemon Tree is great......but it has a catchment area how big?.

 

In Shetland we have Clickimin, the Garrison Theatre, numerous halls and perhaps including the TA hall, Islesburgh, the North Star, the Fisheries college, the marts, some churches, two ferries and a ferry terminal and doubtless many more venues that I have missed.

 

Anyway I presume the council will be consistent and refuse planning consent for the proposed site on the same grounds as they refused the plans for the old ice factory.....too near the water and a risk that some person having drink taken might just fall into the sea.

 

As for rehearsal space St Clements Hall might be good and how about the old Judane factory.....not Chris Hodge's place but the one near the Co-op.

[Guest Anonymous]

What about all the buildings lying empty:

 

The lower Gym King Harald St

 

The old Squash courts

 

Excellent positions for recording studios

 

Wgy would any publican spend big money doing up a pub while the council are hell bent on this rubbish anyway?

[Njugle]

In Shetland we have Clickimin, the Garrison Theatre, numerous halls and TA hall, Islesburgh, the North Star, the Fisheries college, the marts, some churches, two ferries and a ferry terminal.....

..... presume the council will be consistent and refuse planning consent for the proposed site on the same grounds as they refused the plans for the old ice factory.....

rehearsal space... St Clements Hall .........Judane factory.....

 

Well said JustMe, ever considered becoming the whole arts trust/SIC properties manager?

 

What about all the buildings lying empty:

The lower Gym King Harald St

The old Squash courts

Excellent positions for recording studios

Why would any publican spend big money doing up a pub while the council are hell bent on this rubbish anyway?

 

And again "sense"!

 

Another point: If a truly 'big' act come up, will the new venue be big enough for them? Will we end up back in the clickimin again with it's 'self-destructive' acoustics or will we just not get tickets?

 

I'm not against the venue per-se, it just seems, perhaps, like all the feasibility studies suit the purpose of they that commisioned them, a common principal, alledgedly.

 

However, if someone could give me a signed assurance that this venue would not cost anybody a penny, ever, i would be all for it!

Shetland has a huge portfolio of 'property investments', which need financial maintenance already, the future promises to bring more costs all round already, top-heavy demographic and all that, show us the return on the investment.

[Guest Anonymous]

no much chance oh dat den !

[McFly]

However, if someone could give me a signed assurance that this venue would not cost anybody a penny, ever, i would be all for it!

 

I'm sorry guys, but I just don't see why it shouldn't cost money. I would be more than happy to pay for a well managed cultural resource. Much happier than I am paying for wider roads and paying off loans to private investors for building shoddy schools and hospitals!!!!

 

The way I see it is that we shouldn't be arguing about who pays for it (everybody in the community should be paying for it) but about how it's going to be managed to benefit the maximum number of people in Shetland. It could be a great opportunity to give Shetland a quality arts centre.

 

Stop being so bloody curmudgeonly and try thinking about ways it could be made to work well!

[Njugle]

I'm sorry guys, but I just don't see why it shouldn't cost money. I would be more than happy to pay for a well managed cultural resource.

 

The point i was making is that we are already paying for several "well managed cultural resources", maybe they should be sold in favour of the venue then?

Much happier than I am paying for wider roads and paying off loans to private investors for building shoddy schools and hospitals!!!!

What if we get a shoddily built venue, a la scottish parliement?

 

The way I see it is that we shouldn't be arguing about who pays for it (everybody in the community should be paying for it) but about how it's going to be managed to benefit the maximum number of people in Shetland.

 

Even though not all of the community will not benefit from it, and we are facing a social care critical mass which is destined to worsen in the next ten years? How high should the cost of living be in Shetland exactly?

 

It could be a great opportunity to give Shetland a quality arts centre.

Like the Bonhoga perhaps?

 

Stop being so bloody curmudgeonly and try thinking about ways it could be made to work well!

 

Like i say, i'm not against it, but i'll curmudgeon all i want The fiddler is calling the tune here and he is financially required to justify it with a damn fine dance, to coin a phrase.

[turrifield]

Mmmm – not sure a music venue / cinema should be funded by public funds. If it is a viable thing, maybe it should be done by private individuals and run as a profit making venture.

 

The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen is publicly funded. It has a remit to develop arts of all kinds for as many groups in the community as possible. And it's a tremendous success.

 

I lived in Aberdeen for many years and the cultural life of the city would be much poorer without the Lemon Tree.

 

I think it's a really good concept to have a publicly funded arts development centre, and given the right management and creative programs the Shetland community would benefit greatly from it.

 

Surely it doesn't have to be in direct competition with all the dreary drinking dens Shetland already has?

 

the Lemon Tree had funding for the first five years then it had to be self supporting and you could tell the differance in the programming more tribute bands, club nights etc..

Not that their is anything wrong with that.

But back to the subject in hand what gets me is that there is already an excellent cinema/ music venue in Lerwick called the north star. Ok it needs alot of work doing but anybody who's played there or seen a band there knows it's great, I can't remmember what its like as a cinema I was about 5 the last time it ran a film

[turrifield]

the other thing is why, like the new museum, is it being built about 10 feet above sea level?

Most people have accepted that sea level is due to rise, was it not last year that the sea was up to the front door of the new museum. How short sighted can you get?