Good to know that WAG Ministers have got their priorities right during the worst recession since the Second World War.Today, the Finance Minister Andrew Davies announced £15 million of taxpayers funding for the arts and innovation centre at Bangor University which, according to the marketing blurb, "will include a replacement nightclub and Students’ Union for the University".
So there we have it.
With 130,000 unemployed in Wales, WAG has decided to give millions of pounds of public funds for a nightclub in Bangor.
You couldn't make it up even if you tried.
Comments
www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/vaughanroderick/2009/10/cod_da_vinci.html
Here is a translation of his post
"One would have considered that North Wales AMs would be delighted with the news that Bangor University will hope to have its new arts and innovation centre open by 2012.
That isn’t the case at all and it is not only the pseudo-Italian name “Da Vinci Centre” that has annoyed them. In the words of one, “I have no faith in them”, with the ‘them’ being the university authorities and the doubts that arose after what happened to Theatr Gwynedd
The University owned the theatre’s building but it was run by and independent board. According to one that should know, the University showed little interest in the work of the Theatr.
The sceptics in the Bay cannot believe that the panjandrums at Bangor have suddenly developed an interest in presenting the arts to the local population. In their opinion, the new theatre is just a way for the university to get a bucketful of public cash. The real reason is to develop a building that will be of greater worth to the University and its students than to local people or professional theatre in Wales.
Aberystwyth Arts Centre is an excellent example of the way that a university can develop a centre that is of national significance and of benefit to its community. There is more than one AM who doubts whether the new Dan Brown/Da Vinci Centre at Bangor will be the same.
People used to say that the “College on the hill” was built on high ground so that its leaders could look down on everyone around them. According to some, this hasn’t changed!
"At the end of last month, the decision to close Theatr Gwynedd for good was greeted with dismay by many people in the local community. In its place, there are plans to create an ‘Arts and Innovation Centre’, which will also incorporate a new students’ union. According to architects’ estimates, this will cost up to £30 million, with the vast majority of it coming from the public purse.
With public funding being constrained under the current credit crunch, questions have yet to be asked about whether the owners – Bangor University - had bothered to work out the cost of refurbishing the existing theatre, especially as it would probably have been considerably cheaper than the cost of the proposed new facility. Certainly, a small proportion of the £30 million would have gone a long way towards repairing the current building.
Whilst the concept of an ‘Arts and Innovation Centre’ sounds exciting in itself, it must not be forgotten that such a facility already exists nine miles down the road in Caernarfon. The Galeri - which has already received millions of pounds of public funding - is already the centre for creative industries for the region. Any similar development in such close geographical proximity would surely place its future at risk, especially as its tenant companies would no doubt be incentivised to move to Bangor.
It could be argued that the closure of Theatr Gwynedd creates a real opportunity to establish a new theatre in Caernarfon to complement the Galeri and, along with the cluster of television companies on the Cibyn Industrial Estate, would give Caernarfon the opportunity to label itself as Wales’ most creative town. Such a development may even persuade the BBC to relocate from Bangor to establish a powerful creative cluster that could generate real wealth and prosperity.
Given that replacing the local students’ union forms part of the new plans for the Arts and Innovation Centre in Bangor, some have argued that public funding earmarked for regeneration should not be used to pay for new nightclubs to attract students to the city. That is a tad unfair but the point is well made.
The whole point of building Theatr Gwynedd was to have an arts location for the whole of the North West Wales. If a decision has been made by the owners of the theatre to close it down against the wishes of local people, then they have forfeited the right to first refusal on a replacement. Any new theatre for the county must therefore complement recently built facilities such as the Galeri and more importantly, be located where it has the greatest impact.
Of course, this places the Assembly in a difficult position. If it provides funding from the Mon and Menai strategy to build a new development in Bangor that will undermine the position of Caernarfon as a centre for the creative industries, then it could be jeopardising one of the few remaining opportunities to regenerate the area. There is also talk of asking Europe for millions of pounds of funding to support the project, which some would find difficult to swallow especially as the University has already received £28 million in grants from the Objective 1 programme.
Of course, if the University wishes to invest its own surpluses in the development of the new Centre and the creation of facilities for its students then all well and good. However, if it needs vast amounts of Assembly and European money to do so, then there must be considerable reflection by politicians and civil servants as to whether this is the right strategy for the region but, most importantly, whether it is a responsible use of public funds".
Also, to say there was widespread 'dismay' in the city upon the closure of Theatr Gwynedd is stretching it as most never even noticed as nobody went! My mam still lives in that area and thought it had closed years earlier.
Looking at the bangor uni website about the new development - da vinci my a**e as Mr Royale would say - it seems quite interesting but it's a little more than a nightclub isn't it? The 'arts' are not really my cup of tea but what's being proposed to replace the ugliest building in the city (the students union) and the old fashioned nil exciting nil used theatre building can only be a good thing surely? Even if just for the feel of that part of the city - not to mention the huge student spending power, science interaction and arty drama kind of stuff.
That students union building is an absolute eyesore and sooner it goes the better for the visual impact of Bangor - never underestimate the 'feel' of a location in attracting investment, as you well know.
Does Bangor need a theatre? I doubt it to be honest but it does need something to bring the people closer to the university and especially the sciences, to better understand and possibly even take part in its/their advancement. Hopefully this will provide such a vehicle? Let's see.
The conservative mindset (no pun intended) of knocking something different is disappointing from you Dylan. Isn't innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives all about something different?
Well if you look beyond the architect’s diagram, the new project consists largely of a theatre, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces, bar and café, a replacement nightclub and Students’ Union, and a variety of new teaching and learning spaces.
That is hardly ‘different’, ‘innovative or entrepreneurial’ and is certainly not a priority at a time of extreme budget constraints.
Yes, there is a “Music Innovation Centre” in the plans but is that really worth spending £15 million of public funds on such a project, especially as this could have been incorporated into the Galeri in Caernarfon for considerably less?
If there was a case of a building representing the phrase “the emperor has no clothes”, this is it. Indeed, as the failure of the technium buildings has shown, it is not bricks and mortar that makes the difference but the people who work within those buildings.
As the VC of one of the largest HE institutions said to me today, all these projects are well and good but what is the point if the HE sector is preparing for cuts of up to 10 per cent which will hit staff budgets hard.
Unfortunately, if you build it, they will not come because the staff budget won’t be there to pay for the academics who can do the “science interaction and arty drama kind of stuff”.
Sam – sorry to disappoint you but I never said that the nightclub is a drain on the economy but if, as you state, it makes millions of pounds, then why should the taxpayer pay for a refurbishment when there are other priorities in the Welsh economy?
For example, wouldn’t you prefer to delay this project for a couple of years and use the funding to help young people to go to university or to college rather than on the dole, or to help graduates extend their studies to a relevant Master’s so they are more highly skilled when the recession is over?
We are in the middle of a recession and every spare penny should be going towards making sure the Welsh economy is in the position to recover. This may have been the type of project to fund when the money was flowing but when the economic development budget is facing cuts in capital expenditure of £65 million next year, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
If the University really wants this project to go ahead then it can pay for it out of its own funds, although even with such largesse from WAG but I very much doubt that one pound of real cash will go towards this project, especially as the University has made it absolutely clear that the project will be part financed via EU Convergence funding.
Given the way that WEFO applies its rules regarding spending, I will be interested to see how much of the project is deemed eligible for support.
Anyway, that’s my opinion and thanks for your comments although that opinion is probably worth very little as this deal had allegedly been agreed months ago. Now just watch the bid for European funding sail through during the next couple of months.