Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue

[peeriebryan]

Mareel was granted planning permission by the SIC today

[JAStewart]

score!

[peeriebryan]

It still has to be debated and voted on by the full council on the 14th of May. But a big step forward though, considering the problems with the North Ness tanks

[Baron Farkoff]

People keep on about "doing up an existing venue".What venue? There are a bunch of community halls with very limited facilities,and absolutely no provision for education whatsoever.If people want to learn the skills to have a career in the media world then they have to leave the islands and at the moment,there is very little reason to come back.This place is perceived as something out of the "wicker man" to a lot of people on Mainland Uk,and with articles like certain councillors getting drunk and ranting about "soothmoothers"in public places,very little is being done to change that perception.Its a few million quid,be real,compared to most councils in Britain,Shetland is rolling in money.I hear stories of children as young as 13 using heroin in school.Is this perhaps because there is absolutely nothing here to keep them entertained and educated?It's disgusting to hear narrow minded folk arguing over political chump change with such ferocity and lack of care for their childrens' futures.And anyway,the people who are fighting so hard against it are probably just punters ,not people involved in the enormous industries of music and film.They may or may not use these facilities,but thats not the point:there are plenty who would love the opportunity to who actually know about such things and have nowhere to do it.There is no dedicated venue on shetland.Remember the fuss in the paper about peoples shoes being the wrong type for dancing athe clickimin?That is because it is a SPORTS HALL.The fairly prestigious event that is the Folk Festival has to make do with a SPORTS HALL.Any band wishing to play here has to work their schedule around a sporting event,or possibly a jumble sale or coffee morning.I keep hearing about Shetlands "world class" music.Well it gets treated like a second class item as far as I can see.

The times are changing,and Shetland needs to change too,or it won't need an old peoples home because this generation will either have fled or be dead.Blah Blah Blah.

[JAStewart]

Baron,

 

You've summed up my feelings on the issue. Shetland has rightfully made it a good place to live if you're a pensioner, and indeed the Shetland middle aged people have a relatively stress free environment (no huge traffic jams, very low risk of burglary etc). And indeed us Shetlanders have also been provided with leisure centers. That's great and I'm proud that Shetland has such adequate sports facilities. But I don't do sport. At all. I play music. I bring bands up to Shetland. I've been in the position to tell bands "Yeah we won't have any proper venue since the last good one [North Star] got closed down, so are you happy to play in a few pubs instead?".

 

People like me, Jordan and Bryan have all been involved in music in Shetland, and we know what it needs. We don't want Shetland to have no money. We're not stupid and we want what is best for Shetland. I really don't know how valid "We don't need Mareel" comments are until you've tried to put on a gig in Shetland.

 

We currently have 6 football pitches in Lerwick (3 @ click, seafield, other side of click, gibbie). They're not being used every single day or RIGHT NOW - are they a waste of money too?

 

We need to stop making Shetland awesome for older residents and sporty people and start making it awesome for everyone.

[Baron Farkoff]

Absolutely spot on,JA.And while I'm in ranting mood,who the hell does this man called... no I'd better not,I don't want to get personal with anyone over this because there is no need.Given enough rope...

A lot of very clever and careful people have worked very hard for a very long time to try and get this right,but that in itself is no reason to go ahead with the project.Shetland has never had anything like this before,and if this plan gets scuppered it probably never will.It is up to the community to get involved and make a success of all the elements being incorporated into this project:if it doesn'twork that will be a crying shame ,as the bitter voices howling that itwill never work will have been proved right.But we must have the opportunity to try.This is about more than the cost of a cinema ticket and a place to see some music:it's about making sure the people of shetland have something solid in their future to cement the community values which nearly everyone in this gorgeous place shares.Everone likes a bit of music and a good film,but not everyone has the opportunity to learn how to create them.With the death of Peerie Willie,shetland has no representation on the world stage.Black Bic Biro are as good as anyone making music today,and they are just getting started,but what about folk who will be inspired by them?Where do they get to learn their craft while mixing with people who can raise everybodys game?Nowhere at the moment,and at the very least ,Mareel will provide that.Paul Wellers' drummer Steve White came here to do a clinic,and I saw a town hall packed with children who all play drums hanging on his every word.Let's let them have a place to express their inspiration which is free of the damnable drink culture which seems such a cancerous part of this Islands' thinking,and show off the INCREDIBLE talent contained here properly,without having to wait until everyone else has finished their game of badminton.

[Mag]

Well said Baron Farkoff. I see that the Mareel Bebo site has over 400 friends, and it looks as if most of those are young Shetlanders. That is a huge vote for Mareel from Shetlands' young folk. And if music and cinema are the activities that the young folk want in place of our current pub and drinking culture then we should be moving heaven and earth to make that happen.

 

IF there is a problem with running costs breaking even in 5 years time then the community can prioritise its spending and decide whether it wants to continue to subsidise sport to the massive tune that it currently does, or put a little subsidy towards Mareel, or a bit of both.

[JustMe]

About time I stated my position clearly. I am not against Mareel in principle or in practice and I am not against a degree of subsidy going on for evermore as long as the subsidy is sustainable from investment income.

 

That said I have reservations about the current plans.

 

1) How much has been added to the cost of the project simply to gratify an architects desire to build some sort architectural statement as opposed to a practical working building?.

 

2) Is the cinema big enough?

 

3) Is the second cinema too small?.

 

3) Is the music venue too small to attract big names?.

 

Somehow I do not think I am alone in having these reservations and this could well be the last chance for anything to be put right before the project moves into the construction phase.

[JAStewart]

2) Is the cinema big enough?

 

3) Is the second cinema too small?.

 

4) Is the music venue too small to attract big names?

 

2) What size should a cinema be?

 

3) What size should the second cinema be?

 

4) This has been covered. In 6 days I'm seeing The Presidents of the USA in a 500 person venue. In 2005, I saw them in a 150 person venue. PUSA have sold around 5 million records so you could say that they are a big name. Of course this is just one example but it shows you.

[ChristopherWilliamThomson]

Baron Farkoff, idealism is all very well, but it doesn't suit politics and it certainly doesn't run economies. Idealism is the indulgence of the young, hence the large support for this venue among those who haven't experienced 'the real world' yet. I take issue with your argument that children need something to keep them entertained. Imagination is all it should take. Your argument is nonsensical when you consider that children of the past used to 'make their own entertainment'. I agree however, that we need a facility that will help bring forward 'Shetland Arts', a resource that is dedicated to the purpose.

 

The obvious solution to the problem, in my opinion, is staring everyone in the face. Build a multi-purpose space that can cover large music events, possibly large cinema events and everything in between from travelling 10-pin bowling to car roadshows. We need a large hall like facility that can host all sorts events. We do not need more cinema provision!

 

Scrap the cinema, upgrade the garrison.

 

Incorporate the education side of things into the new AHS (most of it is there anyway).

 

That leaves us with a large multi-purpose hall. This is where we need to begin, anything else is unnecessary until proven to be required.

 

It just seems so simple to me - I don't get why people cannot get with reality and understand the nature of the community we live in?

 

I personally believe that a facility that puts on music and cinema events weekly/nightly will actually lead to the destruction of our arts community, simply because there is not the demand for it. Events in Shetland are often a novelty and this fact alone is the reason for their success. Lose this factor and apathy will soon follow, something that has already happened with the Garrison screenings and I believe had also happened to an extent with events at the North Star before it closed.

 

The solution I outlined earlier is the only one I see being of a true value to Shetland, both now and in the future. With regard to a comment you also made Baron Farkoff, I am certainly involved in the industry. I have played in many local bands, of all sorts, and in many different venues. I am a trainee music teacher and have had a good insight into music education, both in theory and practice. I care about the evolution of arts provision within the isles, but also appreciate that it is not a matter of life and death. I am a nay-sayer of sorts, but I have valid reasons - I speak because too many people are losing sight of the reality of this situation.

 

If people love something enough, they will do it, and it does not matter what obstacles come to be in their way. This is idealism, but of quite a different sort. This is the ideal: To have people doing what they love, doing it well and successfully to the benefit of everyone involved. Mareel needs to aspire to be the embodiment of this, but only in the ways that are practical, that fit with the current resources of the community, and can be provided for in an economic fashion that is both sensible and sustainable.

[JohanofNess]

Anyone know which contractors have expressed an interest in tendering for Mareel?.

[JustMe]

JAStewart wrote

2) What size should a cinema be?

 

3) What size should the second cinema be?

 

2) Big enough so that people stand a good chance of getting to see a blockbuster release when they want to.

 

3)Have enough seats so that Mareel has a chance to cover the costs of showing minority interest films.

 

As for venue size I have seen comments about Mareel not being big enough to sell enough tickets to cover the costs of bringing a big name to perform in Shetland as a strictly commercial event. Yes there are "names" prepared to play for less in small venues and well done to you for getting Lerwick to the top of the list for The Presidents of the USA even though I have no desire to listen to them but there are other "names" whose agents would always be looking at the profit to be made from an event.

 

"Names" because I trust that Mareel will not be limited to music and I could not think of a better word.

[Baron Farkoff]

Politics not having anything to do with idealism?What absolute cobblers!The idea that we can make things better by putting our faith in elected representatives is the bedrock of politics,and surely a definition of idealism.Yes idealism doesn't run economies:people do,and people are the investors in the politics of their local area by choosing where to spend their money,and the people of the future need investment

Sorry,but the "children of the past" thing is absolute toss:those kids didn't grow up in a world connected by a world wide web,or on an island which is being flooded with heroin by drug gangs from big cities..Idle hands and the devils' work.Anyway,it's not just children that need entertaining,and to state that this can be achieved by us sitting around using our imagination leads to self abuse and disenfranchisement of many kinds.Think logically;people get together,use their imagination and have the idea to make music.They then need a suitable place in which they can make that happen.Some people then use their imagination to come up with the idea of a "music and cinema venue"which can be used by all to enjoy,create,teach and learn.That is called culture.Shetland does not need another multi purpose hall,as it has several.It needs a purpose built facility such as this.Can't argue anymore for now;got to go play music.

[ChristopherWilliamThomson]

Politics not having anything to do with idealism?What absolute cobblers!

 

You misquote me, I said it doesn't suit it. In many ways politics is the management of idealism.

 

I'm afraid your 'think of the children' argument still doesn't make sense. If anything children need to be removed from the extremely over-stimulated environment they are victims of. It is this that makes them numb, and pushes them to extremities. You cite problems but fail to understand why they are as such.

 

You also misunderstand the crux of my argument. I am in favour of the provision of a quality music venue. I feel however that it should be multi-purpose in order to maximise its value to the community as a whole. This is called compromise, the essence of democratic politics, and the method of making sure that the majority are happy. This is vital if this project is to have a long term future as a successful enterprise.

[WiiMan]

Sorry,but the "children of the past" thing is absolute toss:those kids didn't grow up in a world connected by a world wide web,or on an island which is being flooded with heroin by drug gangs from big cities..Idle hands and the devils' work.Anyway,it's not just children that need entertaining,and to state that this can be achieved by us sitting around using our imagination leads to self abuse and disenfranchisement of many kinds.Think logically;people get together,use their imagination and have the idea to make music.They then need a suitable place in which they can make that happen.Some people then use their imagination to come up with the idea of a "music and cinema venue"which can be used by all to enjoy,create,teach and learn.That is called culture.Shetland does not need another multi purpose hall,as it has several.It needs a purpose built facility such as this.Can't argue anymore for now;got to go play music.

 

Strange idea. Most cities have cinemas, music venues and the like but are more drug and crime-ridden than Shetland will ever be.

The obvious solution to the problem, in my opinion, is staring everyone in the face. Build a multi-purpose space that can cover large music events, possibly large cinema events and everything in between from travelling 10-pin bowling to car roadshows. We need a large hall like facility that can host all sorts events. We do not need more cinema provision!

 

Scrap the cinema, upgrade the garrison.

 

Incorporate the education side of things into the new AHS (most of it is there anyway).

 

That leaves us with a large multi-purpose hall. This is where we need to begin, anything else is unnecessary until proven to be required.

 

It just seems so simple to me - I don't get why people cannot get with reality and understand the nature of the community we live in?

 

Well said that man!