Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Producer slams town hall plans
A theatre producer has slammed the decision to repurpose Airdrie’s town hall as a long-term vaccination centre, saying it further impacts on arts and community events just as performance spaces are being allowed to reopen.
Glasgow Philharmonic founder and creative director Ross Gunning had been finalising preparations for next month’s planned Movies to Musicals show when he received an “out of the blue” email saying that the Stirling Street venue is now unavailable as its main hall is set to be used for an ongoing Covid immunisation booster programme for the next two years.
He says his group was “absolutely devastated” to be told that their alreadyrescheduled performance would not now be able to go ahead as existing bookings are being cancelled; and believes that the loss of the venue for public events will have a negative effect on the town.
North Lanarkshire Council says the building has been chosen for use as an immunisation centre to meet NHS requirements for size, location and seven-day use, adding: “The vaccination programme is our number one priority.”
Ross told the Advertiser: “Nobody seemed to be aware that this was happening with the town hall; when I put the news on Facebook telling everybody, people were then asking about their classes and events which take place there.
“Airdrie town hall is the biggest culture venue in the town and all the performers were desperate to get back in there – there will be various amateur theatre groups wondering where they’re going to go now, and I don’t think the consequences for the area have been thought through.
“The health and wellbeing of everybody is so important; but why are they using a performance centre, full of bookings for concerts and events which are all having to be cancelled? Couldn’t they have used a space like a church hall or a football stadium, that isn’t used every day?
“It’s always the arts that’s affected; the past two years have been very challenging and it’s become even more so. We’re trying to give young performers opportunities, free of charge; the government need to stand up and support the arts.”
Ross was offered an alternative venue in Motherwell for his show – which he first staged in Airdrie to a sold-out audience two years ago – with his planned 2020 booking then being carried forward to this year after the town hall closed in the first lockdown 18 months ago.
However, he said of the new dates: “They were so far away from what we were planning.
“The show is just a few weeks away, and I can’t let down the performers and kids who haven’t been on stage together since February 2020.
“We’ve managed to get a new venue in Lanark for the September 16 date and they’re helping us to make it work, but it’s been hard work and very stressful, especially around whether tickets would be transferred or refunded.
“Airdrie town hall has had our money for two years and say it could take weeks for us to get that back, but they expect us to book another venue and fork out even more.
“Where are we getting that money from after two years of nothing because of a pandemic?”
North Lanarkshire’s other vaccination centres will be at Link community centre in Cumbernauld and the existing facility at Ravenscraig sports centre in Motherwell.
Each meets criteria including having a single hall big enough for up to 10 vaccination lanes, separate entrances and exits, seven-day usage, car parking and public transport links.
Council officials say they will continue to use the lesser hall, located upstairs at the Airdrie venue, for “cultural and community activity including arts classes, cinema showing and lets”.
A spokesperson for the local authority told the Advertiser: “We remain in the midst of tackling a global health pandemic and the NHS vaccination programme is our number one priority.
“We have offered groups suitable alternative provision so that their events can take place and we will continue to engage with groups so that a solution can be reached.
“However, for the considerable time being, our absolute focus is on working with our partners in the NHS and Scottish Government to support the successful rollout of the vaccination programme.”