Arts and Culture Centre reaches out for funding Nov 2003

24 Nov 2003

Visitors to a busy public exhibition at Kirkintilloch’s Town Hall (15th November) were among some of the first to see proposed plans for the town’s new £6 million arts and culture centre at Southbank.

The centre already has £2.5million of funding from Kirkintilloch’s Initiative, the £40million project aimed at regenerating Kirkintilloch. And champions of the scheme are now approaching funding organisations, including the Scottish Arts Council and other grant-making bodies, in order to turn the design into a reality.

Linked by a bridge to the other side of the canal, the proposed new arts and culture centre will not only host a wide range of theatrical, musical and other performance events, but will serve as an upgraded replacement facility for many of the events and meetings previously held in the Town Hall. Its flexibility and size also means that it will be an excellent venue for wedding ceremonies, receptions, and similar occasions.

Iain Carmichael, a Kirkintilloch player and community representative on the project team for Kirkintilloch’s Initiative said:

“This project has been put together with a considerable amount of community involvement and we are now going out to seek funding to turn the designs, currently on paper, into bricks and mortar. If successful in getting the funding we require, I look forward to treading the boards with the Kirkintilloch players”.

Community input has led to the facility being doubled in size from original plans and moved to the heart of the redeveloped leisure and business area at Southbank.

The new range of proposed facilities now include:

• a 250 to 300 seat theatre
• exhibition space, bar and kitchen
• a dance facility
• open space for events such as craft fairs
• a community space with a capacity of 80-100 (soundproofed for such purposes as rehearsal and recording)
• a further community space with a capacity of 40-60 (for art groups, workshops, classes, clubs, etc)
• a recording studio
• committee/meeting rooms
• dressing rooms

Outline planning permission for the centre was granted in January 2003. and the project team has also selected the preferred architects, Page & Park for the project.

The architects, chosen after a tender process that saw six firms being interviewed, come with an outstanding pedigree. Among other schemes, they were responsible for the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow and for the development of the Italian Centre - a key project in the regeneration of Glasgow’s Merchant City area. They were also lead consultants and designers for the environmental enhancement of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

Other consultants involved in the scheme include the company, Theatre Plan, also responsible for the development of the Grand Theatre of the Lyceum in Barcelona and the Copenhagen Opera House.

Joan Riddell, project manager said:

“An excellent team has been put together and what he have produced are the designs for a first-class facility. Its completion is dependent on the funding slotting into place, and lets hope we can deliver a centre that not only the people of Kirkintilloch can enjoy, but also those from outwith the area”.

The anticipated schedule for the completion of the arts and culture centre, dependent on planning permission is spring 2006.

A further public exhibitions on Kirkintilloch’s Initiative and its 14 projects will take place in the William Patrick Library in Kirkintilloch, running from 15th December until the end of the year.