AN arts centre faced with closure could be saved by moving it into the local authority’s council chamber, a councillor has suggested.
Conservative member Ian Galletley has put forward the radical suggestion in an effort to prevent Darlington losing its art venue and is seeking support from all parties to help make it happen.
The Labour-led local authority is considering closing the arts centre in order to save about £530,000 and using the proceeds of the sale of the site in Vane Terrace for a purpose- built centre nearer the town centre.
However, in the time between the arts centre closing and a new one being built, Councillor Galletley fears vital skills could be lost and interest could wane.
The replacement building would also be dependent upon a substantial grant from the Arts Council.
Coun Galletley believes this is the best solution as it would mean any potential developer of the Vane Road site could be persuaded to carry out the necessary adaptations to the council chamber in return for the old arts centre building at a reduced price.
Coun Galletley had set himself the task of trying to find a suitable town-centre location which could be quickly redesigned and rebuilt within the cost of the present arts centre.
He said: “I realised that the answer was right under my nose.
“Why couldn’t we use the council chamber?
“It stands unused for 95 per cent of the time, is based on theatre design and has an empty space beneath it which could easily be built in and adapted.”
He said that the chamber, which is only used once every few weeks, could be used for a theatre and adjacent offices and the undercroft underneath the chamber could be used for rehearsal rooms and other ancillary purposes.
The council could then either meet in the converted theatre or could use the old council chamber, which is still in existence next to the town’s covered market. He added: “I think this is something all the political parties can get together on. There’s an agreement that the arts have got to be saved and perhaps we can agree on something like this.
“There are a lot of people at the arts centre whose jobs are under threat and this might be able to help some of them.”
Coun Galletley said he had passed on the suggestion to Councillor Nick Wallis, the cabinet member for culture and leisure, the independent group Darlington for Culture as well as the council’s chief executive Ada Burns.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “We are consulting on issues raised in the Medium Term Financial Plan and welcome any suggestions or ideas about the future provision of services in the borough.”
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