Steve Brine visits The new Tower Arts Centre in central Winchester and finds stories of its "closure" far from the truth!
Prospective Winchester MP, Steve Brine, visited The Tower Arts Centre this week.
He met with the new Tower Arts co-ordinator, Ben Ward and heard plans for the future of the centre since its’ transfer from Hampshire County Council to Kings’ School last month (April).
HCC leader Cllr Ken Thornber agreed to transfer the Tower to Kings’ last December as a response to ever increasing demands on its adult social care costs. All running costs and maintenance will now be met by the school, which has given a commitment to continue running the popular daytime classes for adults, provide free rehearsal space for the Blue Apple Theatre Company (for able bodied and disabled adults) and the Saturday youth theatre group, TAPAS.
The county council and Winchester City Council have both agreed to put £25,000 a year each into a pot for three years to fund an evening programme at the Tower and other Winchester venues. Steve Brine worked tirelessly with both council leaders at the time to delay a decision on the transfer until we were confident it could go ahead in a way that protected its’ future as a genuine community arts venue – and initial funding was in place to safeguard the all-important evening programme.
On the 19th April 2008, the school appointed well known local arts promoter Ben Ward, to the new post of co-ordinator.
Steve Brine says; “Ben is extremely well known with musicians and performers in and around Winchester and has a proven track record in the city. We had a really good chat and I was hugely encouraged by what I heard.
“The whole issue of the Tower and its’ proposed transfer last year generated strong feelings across the city and I know many people genuinely feared that transfer to Kings School would mark the closure of the Tower.
“I think it was extremely unfortunate the way the campaign last year became so party political and I will remember for a long time – as will many other people I am sure – how some deliberately misled the public and misrepresented the situation for their own party political advantage. We had leaflets from the Liberal Democrats under the headline ‘Tories Tower shame’ hailing the “closure” of the venue and that just wasn’t true or fair on the Tower or its users. We had a ‘Save the Tower’ campaign group which on the whole contained good people who just wanted to understand what was going to happen and had no agenda whatsoever but it was disappointing to find out subsequently that one of the campaigns leading figures was actually a prospective Liberal Democrat city councillor. I just hope those people will now recognise the situation as it really is and maybe we can expect a retraction sometime for some of the stuff that was said.
“When I visited the Tower this week there were painters crawling all over the place giving the inside a fresh lick of paint and it was clear how much the building needs a complete overhaul to make it a viable for the future in a way that is ever likely to attract some of the big names we have had here in the past – and helped make the Tower’s name in the first place. It is clear to me, the school are prepared to make that investment and all credit to them.
“I know detailed discussions are taking place at the moment about the evening programme but I am confident we will end up with an evening arts programme across the city as a whole which sparks a renaissance of arts provision that really puts Winchester on the map as it deserves to be.
“I think it is becoming increasingly clear now that maintaining the status quo would have eventually seen the closure of the Tower as public funds are increasingly squeezed. I am confident the transfer will mark a positive new chapter in its history if we all work together and support its programme. That is what I plan to do and I would call on everyone else to do the same so the Tower can get on with what it does best and put all of this debate and argument about its structure and ownership behind it once and for all.”