Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue

[Guest SJP17]

If they have to put a bit off money in every year then so be it , this is for our entertaiment and if it cost us a few quid so what ? weve blown money on a lot worse and had no real benefit from it !

 

There hardly going to invest all that money then close the place down after a year or so !

 

I think we should all get behind the venture and try our best to make it a success !

[Guest Anonymous]

What sort of music bands are you into ?

 

Im sure it will be catering for many different types of music

 

i'm in to all sorts of music but would have to say rock is my first love musicaly, and yes i would love to see my favourite bands playing gigs up here but damn sure don't expect everyone else to pay for me to have that privilage.

if they manage to persuade AC/DC or Rush to play i will camp outside islesburgh to try and get a ticket but that is just not going to happen so I'll save me pennies as always and pay for my own entertainment with my own money.

And one other thing that gets my goat is the comments about those less fortunate than myself not having the oppertunity to see bands, well that is utter bollox as a lot of my mates when growing up went south to see bands a lot more regularly than i ever did, I could never quite understand how they could afford it as their folks certainly did not have as much as my familly did, and i had an after school job from a very early age yet it seems that those who's priority was seeing bands got of their arses and found a way to pay for it without needing subsidies from public funds, unlike now

[joenorth]

 

Shetland has a different history and heritage to England and Scotland whether you like it or not!.

 

Absolutely right, Kavi! And, as PeerieBryan says, that's precisely because of the mix of cultural influences that have made themselves felt here over the centuries. A stance which strives to separate 'Shetlan' from the 'outside' (and this is encountered in such dynamics as sneering at non-Shetlanders who try to speak our tongue and deriding non-native poets who use the medium in their work) is what will lead to the increased marginalisation and ultimate destruction of any conception of Shetland identity. It's a natural thing for members of a culture which is under pressure from a more powerful/pervasive culture to create exaggerated boundaries, and to indulge in gatekeeping, but it usually results in the less powerful culture vanishing.

[Njugle]

Sorry tae burst one's balloons but dat is dat.

 

Dy glee at being able to burst balloons is sadly misplaced, I'd be surprised if there is anybody reading this that doesn't understand that you can't take the breeks aff a bare backside.

 

And if it is a roaring success, I would imagine it will be at the detriment of all the other local night spots...

 

Yes yes, because the Lerwick nightlife is currently thriving with a healthy social scene and a pictir hoose, a club and some gigs are going to drag the teeming masses from.....where was that again, exactly?

[Spinner72]

My bone of contention is that too much of Shetland's history and heritage is being neglected whilst Shetland Arts continue to import sooth orientated culture. And that he money given each year to SA should be spent on preserving and promoting Shetland's indigineous culture first.

 

 

Can you expand on this with a few examples? I'm honestly no bein awkward aboot it, I just can't think o a single example o this kinda thing.

[Username]

Mareel is a waste of money.

[Baron Farkoff]

Tear it down and build something more suitable, like a merry-go-round.

Round and round we go....

[Gorgonzola Butt-cheese]

you misunderstand me njugle, I have no glee at all in predicting the failure of mareel.

I sincerely he I am wrong and it is a success.

And yes the lerick nightlife might be a far cry from the vegas strip or the rio carnival, but the fact remains there is a key group of young party aged people who are the bread and butter of every establishment in lerick on a friday and saturday night.

For Mareel to prosper there will have to be a significant shift of where their hard earned pennies are spent.

Mareels gain will without doubt be to every other licensed traders loss.

[Njugle]

Or, perhaps, families can have a wholesome night out at the cinema that they otherwise wouldn't have bothered with, for example.

[Snaz]

I wish Mareel every success and so what if it's a bit of competition for Posers, Flints, etc.

Maybe they will have to up their game, which won't be a bad thing.

[Spinner72]

For Mareel to prosper there will have to be a significant shift of where their hard earned pennies are spent.

Mareels gain will without doubt be to every other licensed traders loss.

 

Do remember the large majority of the "young (and not so young) partygoers" who do indeed spend a lot of money in so doing, are not within Lerwick, and a considerable majority don't congregate in liscenced premises anywhere.

 

These are the people who may now spend much more of their partygoing cash in the liscenced premises in town when attending events of any kind in Mareel.

 

Then there are those for whom a spree is now usually takeaway folowed by a dram/tune/yorn in the hoose (I fall into that category). I know we will definitely be eating in town more often and purchasing the odd beverage before and after a gig or film.

 

There are a few changes of habits to take place, sure, but I cant see anything negative in any of them

[WiiMan]

The reason that people are transfixed on the profit/loss of this venture seems obvious. It won't support anything if it dosn't, at best, break even.... However I still question if it will be able to wash its face in the longer term. The operators will have to work very hard to make this viable in this time of ever increasing costs and reduction of peoples available income.

 

I would however question Spinner72's view that it will inevtably increase the average families disposable income. In my experience, my disposible income gets less and less each year and I would imagine that there will be many events that I will wish to attend at Mareel, but won't be in a financial position to do so.

 

I agree, it has to at least break even if it's to survive.

 

.....as Burt Lancaster said "if you build it they will come".

 

I wondered when someone would quote from the film 'Field of Dreams'. It's worth noting that the film was set in Iowa - population 2.9 million not Shetland - population 22,000!

[Kavi Ugl]

My bone of contention is that too much of Shetland's history and heritage is being neglected whilst Shetland Arts continue to import sooth orientated culture. And that he money given each year to SA should be spent on preserving and promoting Shetland's indigineous culture first.

 

 

Can you expand on this with a few examples? I'm honestly no bein awkward aboot it, I just can't think o a single example o this kinda thing.

 

Yeh, while I understand that the lines between arts and heritage might be a little blurred in my argument I feel the principle remains that too much of our heritage is loosing out(and that's despite the new museum and archives!).

 

Some projects that come to mind which weren't/haven't been publicly funded(they got grants but weren't capitalprojects etc) but which imho should have been are the Unst Boat Haven, the new Scalloway Museum(long, long overdue) and the proposed Tingwall Agricultural Museum. All these projects started or are starting on the basis of scrimping money/funding from here and there. I visited the Unst Boat Haven a few weeks ago and the attendant told me that they had exceeded 2000 visitors for the month of July alone.

 

I also personally feel that Shetland's norse history and heritage deserves a purpose built small museum of it's own but what are the chances of that?. Imagine even a small/medium sized norse museum situated in Tingwall, the ancient site of the Law Ting, which was packed full with and preserved and promoted the centuries of Shetland's norse history and heritage. It would probably be a "summer only" attraction but what an asset to our islands and what a great tourist attraction to have.

 

But no, we'd rather spend the money on too many unsustainable swimming pools, sports centres and £11 million on Mareel not to mention the annual grant to Shetland Arts....

 

[WiiMan]

.....as Burt Lancaster said "if you build it they will come".

 

Sorry, I meant also to point out that the actual quote was "if you build it HE will come."

 

Hopefully in Mareel's case HE will be a miracle worker of biblical proportions.

 

.....and £11 million on Mareel not to mention the annual grant to Shetland Arts....

 

While I'm being pedantic....I'm sure it's £12 million. Feth. It wid be a bargain if it wis ony £11 million.

[Spinner72]

Some projects that come to mind which weren't/haven't been publicly funded(they got grants but weren't capitalprojects etc) but which imho should have been are the Unst Boat Haven, the new Scalloway Museum(long, long overdue) and the proposed Tingwall Agricultural Museum. All these projects started or are starting on the basis of scrimping money/funding from here and there.

 

Thats exactly the same as Mareel. It's taken years of jumping through hoops to obtain the funding, lets not forget theis is not a "council" project, it has an array of investors of which the SIC is just one.

 

The unst boat museum regularly recieves grants under the councils Heritage Tourism Development Scheme. Source

 

The Scalloway Museum project is being funded by

Scotland Rural Development Programme, Shetland Islands Council Community Dev­elop­ment, Shetland Islands Council Economic Development and Com­munity Energy Scotland. Advice and assistance throughout the dev­elop­ment phase has been provided by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Shetland Amenity Trust.

Source

 

And the Tingwall Agricultural Museum is

funded by Scottish Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and administered locally by Shetland Islands Council (SIC)

..............

projects, which included Tingwall Agricultural Museum, Unst Partnership, Skeld Waterfront Trust, Heritage Tourism Development Scheme and Global Yell ltd.

Source

 

Now, of course, I support all those projects and agree that we should invest in the preservation of our history, and with it, snapshots of our culture.

 

I just don't see why, despite all the similarities to so many projects, both n the past, ongoing, and doubtless forthcoming, Mareel has to be treated so differently..