Thoughts On Wrexham’s Art & Cultural Hub?

[DR]

Plans of how the proposed Arts & Cultural Hub could look like in the town centre has been released as part of an open invitation

Drop in sessions to discuss the proposals / give feedback will also take place on the 8th and 9th of September for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Hub.

The drawing that has been released on the invitation itself is quite interesting, especially the roof area. Keen to know if there will any similar drawings indicating what the interior of the hub would look like!

Possible Plan Of Wrexham’s Potential New Arts & Cultural Hub Released | Wrexham.com

[wrexview]

Another one looking forward to seeing the interior design. The artist’s impression appears to show an open air roof cafe under a tented cover and is that a big screen with a seating area too?

[99DylanJones]

I hope the information available will also show how / who the facility if ever created will be managed, At a time when the Council are off loading all of their discretionary services this type of project does not fall within their future service portfolio. This being the case the project should be handed over to the private/community sector NOW before another £1 is spent. This would strip out the excessive costs that the Council incur with the project and more importantly the community will feel it is owned by them from the outset.
I will also be interested to know who has come up with the designs- there certainly isn’t anyone on the Council staff with the expertise as they have never had this type of project before.

[NJones]

So is the plan to use what is currently car parking space in the people’s market?

[DR]

@wrexview 14767 wrote:

Another one looking forward to seeing the interior design. The artist’s impression appears to show an open air roof cafe under a tented cover and is that a big screen with a seating area too?

Also couldn’t make out if it was a tented area with a big screen, or if that was some form of parking section!

[Rex Ham]

I hope this “hub “contains the possibility of a theatre, or performing arts space.

[99DylanJones]

Any theatre could only be on a very small scale unless the first floor car park is also incorporated into the design as a single floor would make it impossible to ‘fly’ scenery and lighting rigs. It would also only be possible to create very limited tiered seating. The most you could factor in on a single floor would be a very limited studio. Thos is one of the failing of the Councils concept as their starting point is hw do we vacate the Oriel Gallery in the Library and what do we do with the market space rather than taking a complete holistic approach to all elements of arts and culture. A more flexible space with height would be one of the retail units on Border Retail Park.

[99DylanJones]

Just done the survey– Interesting they ask if you would volunteer yet they are not gathering any details of any potential volunteers.
The predetermining of when the bar and cafe are open is already placing restrictions what can be happening.
There is the question about the use of the Peoples Market – you can say it is unsuitable but no space to give any ideas — now the plans are coming out for the old Groves shouldn’t that now be considered as a place to incorporate the arts and culture centre particularly as the questionnaire refers children and young people workshops and use by students.
We need to be very clear whether a new Arts and Culture Centre is the primary discusion or whether it is about creating something in the town centre to boost trade for others and thirdly the use of underutilised Council space.

[Alunh]

@99DylanJones 14953 wrote:

Just done the survey– Interesting they ask if you would volunteer yet they are not gathering any details of any potential volunteers.
The predetermining of when the bar and cafe are open is already placing restrictions what can be happening.
There is the question about the use of the Peoples Market – you can say it is unsuitable but no space to give any ideas — now the plans are coming out for the old Groves shouldn’t that now be considered as a place to incorporate the arts and culture centre particularly as the questionnaire refers children and young people workshops and use by students.
We need to be very clear whether a new Arts and Culture Centre is the primary discusion or whether it is about creating something in the town centre to boost trade for others and thirdly the use of underutilised Council space.

Which brings us back to the need for a coherent plan which covers short, medium and long teRm. I would like to know what will be the impact on the Markets, what will be the impact on Car Parking capacity, Access issues and financial implications. Like you Dylan, it would pass through my thinking that this type of centre will be costly long term to maintain (by whoever), might benefit from being attached to Glyndwr or Coleg Cambria, and so on. I am curious and no doubt all will be revealed…..

[DR]

I’m hoping that there will be some indication to the interior layout at the drop in sessions next week. Mentally I can’t quite imagine how the layout would actually work, but would be interesting to see if any of the car parking space is lost – as the image released last week seems to suggest there will be activities and art space on the roof.

[Author]

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