The Public's £800k green room is open for business

A giant new conference room painted bright green and costing £800,000 has been completed at controversial Black Country arts centre The Public.

Funding has come from £1.4 million given to the £72m West Bromwich centre.

It was given to bosses at the centre last year by Sandwell Council to complete building work.

The money was handed over for the completion of the second and fourth floors, after it was feared that European funding could be clawed back unless artistic businesses were moved in.

The Madeleine Carroll Suite, on the second floor, will open on October 18, when the New Street centre has a business networking lunch, offering tours of the building.

The fourth floor has been developed as offices. In keeping with The Public's garish pink and black exterior new meeting rooms have been painted lime green.

The colour was selected by architect Julian Flannery - given a brief to choose a colour scheme that was "bright and different from the rest of the building".

Managing director Linda Saunders said: "We wanted something different to the usual magnolia you see in meetings rooms and we are very happy with Julian's choice. He has a great eye for colour."

Despite being created as a community arts centre, in the three months from May to July this year around £40,000 was generated from renting space for meetings at The Public, making it the highest earning use for the building.

Steve Eling, Sandwell Council's finance boss said: "This £800,000 investment comes from the £1.4 million the council gave to The Public for the fit-out of the second and fourth floors.

"The bottom line is that those areas were never going to earn any money until they were finished.

"The creation of these facilities is a positive step towards the building becoming self-sufficient, although we are aware this is a way off."

The centre is running £49m over budget and has been the subject of an audit report which revealed it could be mothballed, decommissioned or even demolished if it becomes too costly to run.

The Public is currently facing a race against time in the battle to secure funding to keep it going after a £3m Arts Council England grant comes to an end in March.

The Arts Council has already warned The Public not to expect any more money as it faces budget cuts of up to 30 per cent.

Sandwell Council has also vowed it will not spend any more money on the building.