Progress on rebirth of The Public
A new business plan for crisis-hit Black Country arts centre The Public will be finalised by July, council bosses have pledged.
The promise comes as administrators prepare to liquidate the private firm previously charged with operating the gallery on the upper floors of the £63 million building in West Bromwich.
Sandwell Council officers have warned the venue in New Street will continue to need a public subsidy if it is to survive as an arts centre. The Arts Council has pledged another £3m to the scheme if an acceptable business case is presented to them by July.
Members of Sandwell Council's audit committee were told last night that the project would remain on red alert with a highest score of 16 on the authority's'strategic risk register, after being labelled as a threat to the council's finances and reputation.
Officers promised the risk score would be lowered when it is reviewed next month, with a new plan for the venue being drawn up with Sandwell Leisure Trust which is set to take over the management of the entire building.
The audit committee had requested a full report on the situation for last night's meeting, after The Public was ranked as the joint highest risk on the register, which categorises and monitors risks to the authority's objectives over the next 12 to 18 months.
Last night's committee gathering followed an earlier meeting in Birmingham of creditors for Public Gallery Ltd – the company set up to run the yet-to-open interactive gallery on the venue's upper floors.
The meeting was held in private at administrators Baker Tilly after the firm was placed into administration in February.
Sandwell Council's finance boss Lynda Bateman said following the creditors' meeting that Baker Tilly was now looking to move the Public Gallery Ltd into liquidation within the next couple of weeks.
The imminent winding up of the company had "in a converse kind of way" helped the council, because having two organisations running the building had not been the most economic use of resources. She said the plans included significant rental incomes from future tenants and to start charging for more events and for entry to the artgallery.
No public arts centre of its kind could run without a public subsidy, Ms Bateman added.
"We have to put a business case to the Arts Council for their July meeting and that business case is progressing very well."
Sandwell Leisure Trust staff have now moved into the building in High Street, West Bromwich, for a three month trial, working alongside libraries boss Linda Saunders while a long-term plan is put together.
