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| Beverley Picture Playhouse
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Until seven months ago the Beverley Picture Playhouse was one of the two oldest working cinemas in the UK as well as being a totally unique venue for all types of music. Following its closure, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, who own the building, are considering a multitude of suggestions regarding its future use.
The 19th century building was formally a Corn Exchange and was later opened as a cinema. The Beverley Folk Festival started using the venue in 1983 to stage concerts. In recent years it was run as a performance venue throughout the year by the Hull Music Company. It grew to be loved by artists who performed there, and audiences from around this country and abroad. This company was forced to cease operations in November last year, causing closure of the Playhouse and leaving the town of Beverley and its surrounding area without a live performing arts venue. The council are now looking at the long-term future of the building and have asked for bids to be placed to either purchase the building or lease it from them. The future will depend on the bid which finally gets accepted by the council. 12 bids were submitted to the Council, which are believed to consist of those ranging from requests to purchase the building outright to turn it into yet another pub / club in the town, to running it as an arts centre / cultural venue for the use of the whole area. The latter would enable live events to take place such as music, drama, and comedy, as well as workshops, and would enable the cinema to continue in operation. In early July the council will produce a shortlist from the bids submitted and will make a final decision later on in the summer as to the fate of the venue. If you know the Playhouse, or if you just know it by reputation, and support it being used as an arts venue, please contact the East Riding of Yorkshire Council and give them your views. The more input they receive from YOU the more chance we have of keeping this valuable asset alive.
Contact
Chris Wade, 27th June 2003.
On Tuesday 8th July the East Riding of Yorkshire Council drew up a shortlist of 5 out of the original list of 12 bids that had been submitted for the take over of the Picture Playhouse in Beverley. In the original 12 were several proposals to turn the venue into an Arts Venue.
In an article published by the Hull Daily Mail on 9th July: "National chain JD Wetherspoon wants to spend £1m on turning Beverley Picture Playhouse into a pub and restaurant. The shortlist of the five bidders for the historic former cinema and adjoining buildings includes four who want to turn it into a pub or bar and restaurant. None of the bidders, as far as is known, have specified using the venue as an Arts Venue." According to the Hull Daily Mail, the Wetherspoon proposal is seen as "promising" in County Hall. "Councillors and officers claim that they want to ensure the concert venue is run as a viable business which fits in with Beverley's character." Unfortunately the former lesee of the venue was forced into liquidation as he failed to run the venue on a viable basis. This may have been because he was also trying to run a full time job at the same time as keeping the Playhouse going, and prior to that had taken it on with no other assistance. The Council's concerns, therefore, about it not being viable as an arts venue are not necessarily well founded. Beverley is the county town for the East Riding of Yorkshire. It has a Leisure Centre and is about to have a new swimming pool, but has no dedicated arts venue. The town supports a rural commmunity with no other arts venues, except for village halls / community centre and schools. At present the Council seems to believe that pubs and restaurants are the cultural level of its local population! It needs to be forced to conceed that an arts and cultural centre is essential in a market town of this stature. The Beverley Folk Festival has for 21 years used the Playhouse as its most popular venue. It now faces the loss of this venue. Other local arts events have also used it in the past; the Jazz Festival, the Guitar Festival and the Comedy Festival to name but a few. I cannot see Wetherspoons supporting such events. As most of you will already know, East Yorkshire has already lost this year its Folk Show presented by Henry Ayrton, on BBC Radio Humberside; now we are to lose our only concert venue where folk (and other live music artists), other than the club acts, can perform. Please could you contact the Council (thanks for doing it the first time, if you did). This time, head for the top and email your reponses to the following:
Chris Wade, 16th July 2003.
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