Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue

[Spinner72]

Folk from all over Shetland and beyond are using these buildings and whilst the user numbers might never be as high as those using Mareel, the community hall is of equal importance to those that use it.

 

Absolutely. Which is one, if not the, biggest reason for my personal supporting of Mareel - they benefits and opportunities it brings to halls all over the isles. (among many other things of course, education, digital integration etc).

 

But then everybody knows all this, it just seems that for some reason it's become "cool" to ignore it and spout spited hellery instead.

[grift]

But then everybody knows all this, it just seems that for some reason it's become "cool" to ignore it and spout spited hellery instead.

I agree with this and Staney Dale's post about Mareel bringing out the worst in folk - some really do seem determined to spread nonsense about it. Facebook seems to be the worst - lots of folk directly blaming Mareel for everything wrong in Shetland with one line posts - school closures, reductions in gritting, ferry timetable reductions and the closure of Freefield seem to be the favourites just now.

 

 

At least on here there's a reasoned debate going on.

 

And I didn't see spending on the new SIC offices, Sumburgh Lighthouse refurbishments, lack of Bressay Bridge, no AHS, HIAL runway, non functioning Sullom Tugs, revenue spending on the Museum and Leisure Centres etc etc coming under fire on Facebook. Just Mareel.

[Colin]

they benefits and opportunities it brings to halls all over the isles.

Unless I'm missing something, this really is rubbish. I have personal experience of Country Halls and I am not aware of any benefits going their way via Mareel.

 

I asked last time you(?) claimed this and didn't get an answer so, I'll ask again.

 

Just what benefits do Country Halls get from Mareel?????

 

Is it the 'benefit' of losing part of their income from dances etc.?

 

Is it the 'benefit' of having their grant applications thrown out whilst watching Mareel getting additional funding?

 

PLEASE let us all know what the benefits are....

[Spinner72]

Mareel simply makes fundraising and/or bringing up acts previously unfeasible much easier and less of a risk financially, along with all the other enticements it offers.

 

Of course this isn't restricted to halls, the facilities are there for any local event to take advantage of.

[HazeyJane]

But then everybody knows all this, it just seems that for some reason it's become "cool" to ignore it and spout spited hellery instead.

I agree with this and Staney Dale's post about Mareel bringing out the worst in folk - some really do seem determined to spread nonsense about it. Facebook seems to be the worst - lots of folk directly blaming Mareel for everything wrong in Shetland with one line posts - school closures, reductions in gritting, ferry timetable reductions and the closure of Freefield seem to be the favourites just now.

 

 

At least on here there's a reasoned debate going on.

 

And I didn't see spending on the new SIC offices, Sumburgh Lighthouse refurbishments, lack of Bressay Bridge, no AHS, HIAL runway, non functioning Sullom Tugs, revenue spending on the Museum and Leisure Centres etc etc coming under fire on Facebook. Just Mareel.

 

Don't forget the "Dave Clark" fiasco! These are the things people should be getting angry about. There has been millions spent on the empty spaces where there should be a School, Bridge etc but with Mareel you actually have an excellent fully functioning building. Young people actually have something to do at nights.

For the record, I think the SIC should have given the money to the Country Halls and I don't think they should be closing Freefield and the gritting cutbacks are just ridiculous and will only cost more as time goes on. The Council need to be cutting their administration costs from the top and NOT vital services. I just wish everyone would stop blaming Mareel for everything, it is getting really boring and also quite worrying how people in Shetland are becoming so spiteful and hate filled. Is that really what Shetland is about now?

 

I was in Mareel the other day buying tickets for the Aiden Moffat / Bill Wells concert and two English women appeared at the counter after seeing a film, I presume, and one of them proceeded to speak extremely loudly about what she thought was wrong with Mareel (this was right in front of the young boy who was serving me). She complained that the ticket prices were too low and the place was far too big then she actually said "I didn't sanction the building of this place". I feel sorry for the staff at Mareel who are doing a really job but are faced with this type of vitriol on a daily basis.

 

I can remember the days of sitting in the North Star Cinema, dressed for the North Pole, freezing due to the hole in the roof, watching a rubbish B movie that I still haven't heard of to this day!!

 

So, everyone, please separate the Country Halls / Mareel issue, give Mareel a chance, it is here now and be grateful for what we have!

[tooney1]

two English women appeared at the counter after seeing a film, I presume, and one of them proceeded to speak extremely loudly about what she thought was wrong with Mareel (this was right in front of the young boy who was serving me).

I find this kind of thing totally unacceptable, but front line staff are having to deal with these pointless rants (what can they do?). It says far more about the complainer than what they're actually complaining about.

[Staney Dale]

The Shetland Arts staff have behaved with remarkable restraint and professionalism throughout, at all levels.

[Fatal Paper Cut]

Very simply, I think that a lot of people who are complaining about Mareel now are the people who complained against it in the 1st place. Because they had to have some extra money to complete building works (hardly surprising when it's taken 18 months longer than scheduled), people are interpreting that as Mareel is looking for handouts to run the place. This is despite the place being only open four moths and in that time, it's not really reasonable to expect they'd have generated revenues of over half a million pounds. I suppose the fact the car park is almost always full and events and showings are frequently sold out is a contributing factor to this perception.

 

Then there's the ridiculous perceived town/country divide that some people see (happened with the Clickamin too). People see services being built in town as somehow a lack of investment in the country. However, Lerwick is central to most of Shetland. You're not going to build a successful and well used cinema/concert hall in Ollaberry. The fact is, over half the ticket sales for Mareel come from without Lerwick/Scalloway, therefore country people are using the facility well. I know I am.

 

Now, the massive overspend from the SIC has been with us for years through successive councils. Then we have repeated cock-ups like the bridge to Bressay, subsequent fall out with LPA and a £7m settlement because the dredging LPA wanted to do had to be put back and when it was eventually able to be done, it was more than twice as much as originally estimated. We've got a new AHS to be built. It's taken 20 years and several million pounds without a brick being laid and we've arrived back at the decision the council made when I was still at school - to build at the Clickamin. Or, there's a huge spend on "consultants", Dave Clark and his pay-off, borrowing a chief exec from OIC, paying him and paying them at the same time.

 

There are several instances of money being spent and nothing to show for it, yet in Mareel - up and running and already well-used, - people are choosing to place a lot of blame whilst happily choosing to ignore everything else that's come and gone (and either never been built or sailed away) before. It's stupid and petty. But that's folk with a grudge for ya.

[Ghostrider]

^ Or maybe there's just some who having believed from the start the Mereel was the wrong design on the wrong site, and at £12.1 Million was grossly overpriced for what it was. See throwing more money at it as adding insult to injury.

 

Some of us have neither forgotten nor forgiven the AHS debacle, the Bressa Brig debacle nor the Dave Clark debacle, neither have we forgotten or forgiven the Norrona one, the Nick Reiter one, the Malakoff floating dock one, the "I don't know my brother" fish one, the Greenhead one, the Ness of Sound one the Reawick Lamb Marketing one, nor for that matter the selling us down to river to the oilys for 1p/tonne and all the other sell outs to them that have followed, and no doubt several more I could think of given more than 30 seconds. The big difference between all of those, with the exception of the AHS, is that they are done deals, closed issues, to be learned to live with however best one can, Mareel is a current and ongoing issue, there is still time to minimise collateral damage and thrown away funds.

 

As for Mareel being well used, thats's an arguable one. The cinema(s) allegedly are, and I've heard mutterings that foyer sales are doing okay. Fine, all good, it needs all the money it can get ASAP, but what about the rest? The venue, which lets face it was one, if not the one portion that got the facility off the ground and "sold" it to a number of folk, doesn't seem to be exactly setting anything alight. Okay there have been sell outs, but by all accounts they've been few, and set against events which went ahead that attracted allegedly only very moderate attendances (relative to capacity) and postponements/cancellations, to say its performing any more than "okayish" is pushing it on what I hear.

[Colin]

Mareel simply makes fundraising and/or bringing up acts previously unfeasible much easier and less of a risk financially, along with all the other enticements it offers.

 

Of course this isn't restricted to halls, the facilities are there for any local event to take advantage of.

 

Are you suggesting that Halls remain closed and use Mareel for their dances etc...

[shetlandpeat]

and at £12.1 Million was grossly overpriced for what it was.

 

 

I think the phrase should be what it is.

 

If you think it is a bad idea, it will always remain one, especially if you are not held accountable if proved wrong. Some do not like it because of its "Arts" link and think that is enough to rubbish it.

 

All the talk has been just about money, yet, how would you measure the educational value, its value to folk who get to see things for the first time.

 

How do you measure the value of a school? It is also a learning centre, a showcase for local art, it can link in with far more projects. It is already known the world over, as far away as New Zealand.

 

I find it odd folk complain more about something that was actually built and working than a bridge to no where. I suppose a non existent cannot be seen, so easily forgotten.

 

As for the halls, now, how have they all become so terrible. They now sound like death traps or scummy prefabs according to the posters here. I think not, though I do think that there should have been more help to find funding. I have already provided a link to funding that could help, I wonder if anyone passed on that to community hall committees.

 

It sounds very much like a lack of forward vision by some. Those with vision seem also to have two oars, those without only one, and those without oars seem not to care.

[CHUCK NORR1S]

Very simply, I think that a lot of people who are complaining about Mareel now are the people who complained against it in the 1st place. Because they had to have some extra money to complete building works (hardly surprising when it's taken 18 months longer than scheduled), people are interpreting that as Mareel is looking for handouts to run the place. This is despite the place being only open four moths and in that time, it's not really reasonable to expect they'd have generated revenues of over half a million pounds. I suppose the fact the car park is almost always full and events and showings are frequently sold out.

 

Then there's the ridiculous perceived town/country divide that some people see (happened with the Clickamin too). People see services being built in town as somehow a lack of investment in the country. However, Lerwick is central to most of Shetland. You're not going to build a successful and well used cinema/concert hall in Ollaberry. The fact is, over half the ticket sales for Mareel come from without Lerwick/Scalloway, therefore country people are using the facility well. I know I am.

 

Now, the massive overspend from the SIC has been with us for years through successive councils. Then we have repeated cock-ups like the bridge to Bressay, subsequent fall out with LPA and a £7m settlement because the dredging LPA wanted to do had to be put back and when it was eventually able to be done, it was more than twice as much as originally estimated. We've got a new AHS to be built. It's taken 20 years and several million pounds without a brick being laid and we've arrived back at the decision the council made when I was still at school - to build at the Clickamin. Or, there's a huge spend on "consultants", Dave Clark and his pay-off, borrowing a chief exec from OIC, paying him and paying them at the same time.

 

There are several instances of money being spent and nothing to show for it, yet in Mareel - up and running and already well-used, - people are choosing to place a lot of blame whilst happily choosing to ignore everything else that's come and gone (and either never been built or sailed away) before. It's stupid and petty. But that's folk with a grudge for ya.

 

Great post! The town v country thing is really starting to p1ss me off also.

[unlinkedstudent]

... Very simply, I think that a lot of people who are complaining about Mareel now are the people who complained against it in the 1st place. Because they had to have some extra money to complete building works (hardly surprising when it's taken 18 months longer than scheduled), people are interpreting that as Mareel is looking for handouts to run the place. This is despite the place being only open four moths and in that time, it's not really reasonable to expect they'd have generated revenues of over half a million pounds. I suppose the fact the car park is almost always full and events and showings are frequently sold out.

 

It depends how you define completing the building works. Have they paid all the other professional team members' invoices to date and not just DITT?

 

Do we know the running costs of Mareel for the last four months? Income is one thing, what about the outgoings? I'd love to know how you reach the conclusion that the car park is almost always full because according to the 24hr live webcam it isn't but granted, given the horrendous glare on screen from the car park lights, for the few sold out events, it does appear near to capacity or full - but not always.

 

... The fact is, over half the ticket sales for Mareel come from without Lerwick/Scalloway, therefore country people are using the facility well.

 

Care to divulge where you got this data from? Ticket sales from the database? Information gleaned during a staff meeting? I apologise in advance if this information is available in the public domain but I don't recall seeing a breakdown of this nature in the press or elsewhere.

[Ghostrider]

and at £12.1 Million was grossly overpriced for what it was.

 

 

I think the phrase should be what it is.

 

If you think it is a bad idea, it will always remain one, especially if you are not held accountable if proved wrong. Some do not like it because of its "Arts" link and think that is enough to rubbish it.

 

I don't think its a bad idea, that is the point. I think it was a good idea which has been poorly executed and has cost an un-necessary small forture, and continues to keep on costing more this far. I can't say I'm overly chuffed with "Arts", as the term has become somewhat synonymous with too many people who cobble together hellery in to nothing, and being given grants for eye-popping sums to do so. I won't dismiss anything on just the basis of the use of the term though, as everything deserves its chance to stand on its own merits.

 

All the talk has been just about money, yet, how would you measure the educational value, its value to folk who get to see things for the first time.

 

How do you measure the value of a school? It is also a learning centre, a showcase for local art, it can link in with far more projects. It is already known the world over, as far away as New Zealand.

 

Best ask SIC Education Dept that one, with all the cost cutting for schools, one would presume they must have some sort of "value" chart to refer to when they decide what goes and what stays.

 

Some people in New Zealand may well be aware of Mareel, I don't doubt, but to say something is "known" would infer that a sizeable number of people have a reasonable amount of knowledge of the subject, I would tend to doubt that is the case at the moment Peat.

 

As for the halls, now, how have they all become so terrible. They now sound like death traps or scummy prefabs according to the posters here. I think not, though I do think that there should have been more help to find funding. I have already provided a link to funding that could help, I wonder if anyone passed on that to community hall committees.

 

You're being over dramatic, not all halls are "terrible", far from it, just like everything else of which there are a number, they cover the whole spectrum from immaculate to urgently requiring repair/refurbishment, as they were all built at different times, to differing plans, using differing construction techniques, and each has a unique history of previous maintenance/works. The beef here, as I understand it, is that two halls from the total, who are currently unfortunately in the requiring repair/refurbishment category, having, they believed complied with the terms of eligibility to do so, applied to the SIC for a grant to help with the works, from an already approved budget for the purpose, were refused for no other reason than councillors deciding they weren't going to release any money from that budget. Kinda begs the question, if its is earmarked and budgeted for, yet they won't allocate it to anyone, what will happen to it come April 4th?

[Fatal Paper Cut]

... The fact is, over half the ticket sales for Mareel come from without Lerwick/Scalloway, therefore country people are using the facility well.

 

Care to divulge where you got this data from? Ticket sales from the database? Information gleaned during a staff meeting? I apologise in advance if this information is available in the public domain but I don't recall seeing a breakdown of this nature in the press or elsewhere.

 

In the paper yesterday, as mentioned by Jonathan Wills. I don't work for Shetland Arts.