Sunday opening for arts centre ‘as soon as possible’

● An Lanntair cites trial’s ‘strong demand’ for move

A Hebridean arts centre will start opening on Sundays “as soon as possible” in the wake of a controversial trial.

The operators of An Lanntair in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, plan to opens the entire building, including a cinema, café-bar, shop, restaurant and art gallery. The move has been announced in the wake of a pilot opening of part of the complex on three Sundays between January and March.

The trial had been opposed by church leaders on the island, where only a handful of local businesses open on a Sunday and publicly-owned facilities remain closed.

An Lanntair’s board said regular seven-day opening would allow the centre to operate as “an inclusive and welcoming community space” on Sundays. It insisted none of the current workforce will be forced to work on Sundays.

A statement from An Lanntair on the outcome of the pilot initiative said there was “strong demand” for its cinema, the only one on the island, to open every Sunday.

It said it had also found significant backing for the centre to offer “high-quality food and drink” alongside its arts programme on Sundays.

The statement said: “Each of the three Sunday cinema screenings was very well attended, demonstrating there is strong demand for a cinema offer on Sundays. The arts activities for children and families were popular too.

“Feedback from the trial has shown that opening as an inclusive and welcoming community space on Sundays has the potential to contribute to the health and well-being of people across our community.

“The feedback has confirmed that, if we were to open on Sundays, people would like to see our whole building, including the café-bar, offering high quality food and drink alongside our arts programme. We’d like to be able to service this demand to the highest quality, however, we’re not quite ready operationally at the moment.

“We’ll work to resolve this in the future and intend to start Sunday opening as soon as operationally possible.”

The Reverend James Maciver, minister at the Stornoway Free Church, said: “I’m disappointed, but not surprised, that this decision has been taken in principle and that Sunday opening would be extended to all facilities at An Lanntair. It will disappoint most folk in the churches here, as we take a very different view of the Lord’s Day.”