Where to now with the flagship of Hastings cultural offerings?

In response to growing concern among the Hastings cultural community about the future of St Mary in the Castle, Old Town stalwart,  Michael Plumbe, has mounted a campaign to raise awareness of the uncertain future of Hastings’ best example of Georgian architecture at its finest, this unique venue for cultural activities, writes Chris Cormack.

The present tenant, Barbara Rogers, has developed a program of events at St Mary in the Castle that have become increasingly diverse, bold  and sophisticated, but her tenancy ceases at the end of August, its final event on Friday 24–Saturday 25 August being an ambitious International Composers’ Festival featuring world premieres of many works by eminent composers from around the globe.

This festival has the potential to become an annual event which would put Hastings well and truly on the map as a music destination, but not without the beauty and acoustic sophistication of this venue, which is so popular among serious musicians. More of this event next week in Hastings Online Times, but let us return to the future of the building…

In July 2011, Hastings Borough Council decided to renew Barbara Rogers’ lease for  one year until August 2012, and put out the building lease to competitive tender. However, the invitation for competitive tenders only went out in March 2012, leaving a mere five months to negotiate a new lease. Although Barbara took part in the competitive tender,  it was clear that the Council was looking for suitors with deeper pockets to help relieve it of its statutory duty as owner to maintain this Grade II listed property.

It would indeed take someone, not just with deep pockets, but also very bold, to sign up to the responsibility for upkeep of the building and, given the complexity of the lease negotiations around such issues, it was entirely predictable that no agreement would be reached by the end of August. Apart from Barbara, HOT is aware that two others have tendered for St Mary’s, which are believed to be a local private school and a wealthy family foundation, both of which have resources and expertise in property management and also track records in sponsoring cultural events.

The history of St Mary in the Castle since it was made redundant as place of worship in 1970 has been moribund. In 1986 it was on the brink of being declared a dangerous structure with risk of demolition. It took influence from the Queen Mother, as patron of the Georgian Society, to stir the Council into action. There followed several more years of tireless pressure from volunteers till the early ’90s when the plans for renovation and reopening as an arts centre could be brought into effect. In 1997 the first concert took place in the as yet unfinished auditorium.

“St Mary might be the linchpin for raising the profile of Hastings – putting it on the international map as a centre for culture, trade and events of all kinds – enriching the life of the whole town, and attracting an increasing number of visitors and participants from far and near, ” said eminent local resident and Royal Academician, Gus Cummins, in 1991. Is that any less true today?

Michael Plumbe finally felt the need to speak out on this issue after Councillor  Judy Rogers, asked what was happening about the lease at the latest Council meeting and Council leader Jeremy Birch merely told her to wait for the next Council meeting on 10 September. “That’s not good enough, is it?” says Michael Plumbe. “It is a tragedy that this building is closing down at the end of the month. Yes, it was probably necessary to go out to open tender for an Operator. Yet it should have been obvious at a much earlier stage that no suitable organisation was coming forward. To wait for a public statement until 10 September is much too late, especially as it will probably only be an interim (and incomplete) statement. The matter should have been sorted out months ago.”

Jeremy Birch has since reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to St Mary’s and stated that: “The Council currently..continues the improvement to the whole Pelham area… (with) a  grant-aided redecoration programme… (and) is working with the other Pelham Arcade owners to repair and restore the lantern that is part of their roofs.… The council will keep it (St Mary’s) open by… honouring a number of  bookings already made for the Autumn while resolving the long-term management arrangements for the building…”

If the Council plans to keep the building open on an ad hoc basis, this raises all sorts of questions about security, insurance and services.  Without a full time manager, how can the building stay protected against the elements and whatever other brickbats are thrown at it?  We have already seen the pier burn down after it was emptied, how much more of a tragedy would it be if something similar happened here?!

Michael suggests that anyone interested in showing how strongly they feel about the issue should turn up to the 10 September Council meeting  An e-petition has also been launched requesting:

1) that the Council does not overlook St Mary in the Castle  as it  juggles with its priorities over cultural events in the borough

2)  that there be more transparency and accountability in future – volunteer stakeholders should have more say and the Friends of SMIC need to be encouraged and allowed to keep a much closer eye on what the Council is doing

3) that measures be taken to ensure better continuity in strategy over the longer term, building on the achievements of Barbara Rogers over the last 3 years. Barbara has built up a wealth of experience and contacts in both marketing SMIC and taking care of the fabric and security of the building – the Council should see to it that Barbara is employed as a consultant to advise and train any future manager of SMIC and help Council officers with some of the issues.

4) It is a condition of some past grant aid that SMIC is available for public hire for at least 100 days a year and likely that any tenancy agreement will contain these provisions   However whilst paying lip service to this principle, future tenants can brush the condition aside, by doing little or nothing to market the building whilst retaining its own use priorities on dates that clash with publicly important dates – e.g. Mayday weekend. The Council and stakeholders (Friends) should work together to see that the tenant is the right one for the job and is facilitating public use adequately.

For information on the Council (Cabinet) meeting please visit

http://www.hastings.gov.uk/decisions_democracy/council_meetings/meetings/

For information on the Composer’s Festival on 24 & 25 August, visit the website.

 

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