A History Lesson.......
A History Lesson......
You would be forgiven querying as to why we start this little story with The Public, an arts building in West Bromwich. The Public, was an arts centre built on the old bus station in West Bromwich. What does this have to do with Julian Saunders - The Sandwell Skidder? For you to have a balanced understanding, a short historical piece is required.
This eponymous and very pink building was built by an independent organisation funded by the Arts Council England and was borne out of The Public's Chief Executive Sylvia King's Jubilee Arts project in 1995. This building was controversial from the very start with residents of West Bromwich voicing their loud opinion that they would rather have investment in other areas such as a new swimming pool following the demolition of the only baths in the area, The Gala Baths in Lombard Street. West Bromwich seemingly wasn't ready for an "arts" centre nevertheless the Arts Council England carried on with the project with Sandwell MBC involved.
Wikipedia states the following: The_Public,_West_Bromwich
The project grew out of the work by Jubilee Arts (founded 1974) whose mission was to enhance the lives of the local community through artistic programmes and endeavours. One aim of this group was to create a building which would serve as a permanent piece of art, be visually and structurally challenging and provide a place for community groups to gather to carry on the vision of Jubilee Arts.
British architect Will Alsop was selected to design the building with construction beginning in May 2003. Running over budget and with a number of organisations supporting the project going into liquidation and administration, The Public finally opened to visitors in 2008 (chiefly the ground floor), with construction of the ramp and digital artworks being completed in 2009. The building was finally completed in 2010 with the opening of its Level 2 Conference Suite and finalisation of office space on Level 4.
Following further issues and problems, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council took over the building from the Arts Council England, West Midlands,in 2009 and established the organisation Sandwell Arts Trust (a subsidiary of Sandwell Leisure Trust) to run and operate the building under license.
Failure of The Public - Express & Star Article Dec 9 2009
The chief executive of a taxpayer-funded organisation that was accused of allowing Black Country arts centre The Public to fail will get a £211,000 pay-off after being made redundant. Sally Luton, chief executive of Arts Council England, West Midlands, will receive the financial package when she steps down in June 2010 as part of a restructure.
The 57-year-old has been criticized for presiding over the Arts Council in the run up to the opening of troubled West Bromwich arts centre, which has cost £72 million and is now £49 million over budget.
Ms Luton, a former craft gallery and restaurant boss, was in charge of the West Midlands arm of the Arts Council when The Public went into administration in 2006, with chief executive Sylvia King forced out along with half of her staff.
Jo Forrest, of Arts Council England, West Midlands, said: "Funding decisions made by the Arts Council are not made by individuals. In cases where large awards are made, then they are ratified by the Arts Council's National Council.
"The development of The Public was undertaken by an independent organisation funded by the Arts Council. We worked hard to avoid The Public going into administration, but ultimately the decision to put the organisation into administration was taken by the board of The Public.
"Since then we have worked very hard with all of the stakeholders to remedy the situation."
The Public - Sandwell MBC Control
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council took over the building in 2009 and established the organisation Sandwell Arts Trust (a subsidiary of Sandwell Leisure Trust) to run and operate the building under license.
By September 2012, there seemed to be improving numbers attending The Public. The Managing Director, Mrs Linda Saunders stated to the Express & Star "We have not got a lot of groups which use the building very regularly, and I think we have got a really good offer for the family during the school holidays... In the early days we started with much more music, but that was where our contacts were," she says. "These days we do more comedy, which is very popular. Of course we want to make sure we make money out of what we're doing, and I think comedy is becoming a mainstream element of what we do. It's very relevant to people in the Black Country." Express & Star Article 26.09.12
The Demise of The Public 2013
What happened between the article in September 2012 to 2013 is not clear but we will attempt to explain it with the information we have.The Sunday Mercury wrote "Sandwell Council is still pumping £1.4 million a year into the keeping the arts centre going. With savage spending cuts in services, the tough decision was made to find another use for the building otherwise the subsidy would probably go on forever..... In 2011, it was bluntly called ‘a gross waste of public money’ by the high-powered House of Commons Culture Select Committee. But that was mild language compared with the opinions on the street in the down-to-earth Black Country .
Critics came to believe that the ‘partners’ in The Public had lost their grip on reality and had been struck down with a communal bout of insanity. As costs soared, the ‘partners’ in the project just froze – and carried on pouring in more cash. It was never clear exactly how The Public would ‘put Sandwell on the map’ or create jobs and investment in and around West Bromwich."
"The lunacy might have been forgiven if anyone had a clear idea – or any idea – about what attractions and events would be staged at The Public." The Sunday Mercury went on to state "There were no permanent art collections by famous artists, just modern ‘art installations’, interactive games – and big empty spaces." Sunday Mercury Article 19.05.13
Closure of The Public
An article by the BBC in August 2013 appeared on their Birmingham & Black Country page stating "Sandwell Council said it could not continue spending £30,000 a week to subsidise the attraction." BBC Birmingham & Black Country 09.08.13
It can be argued that the word "attraction" is the wrong word to be used to describe The Public as surely if the building "attracted" the general public then it wouldn't have been closed however as that is how the building and "business" was viewed then we will surmise that this is what it is.
The BBC continued stating "The Public's managing director Linda Saunders said the decision was "heartbreaking" and she was disappointed for the staff."
One question to ask though...... where did all the money go?
In most cases we have taken the story straight from the commentator themselves to ensure their "comments" are taken into consideration. We are a rebuttal service here for the people of Sandwell and for residents to hear the truthful other side of the story.
Every now and again if we make a genuine honest error and get something wrong then please leave a comment and we shall use our best endeavours to publish appropriate corrections forthwith, if we feel it is of any benefit.
If you consider that anything written is defamatory or otherwise unlawful please again contact us via our comments section and if we feel your comment has merit we shall endeavour to make immediate amends.
Comments
Post a Comment