Petition on The Public will take centre stage
Council bosses were tonight due to meet to discuss a 5,000-signature petition in support of keeping open The Public in West Bromwich as it faces being turned into a sixth-form college.
Sandwell College wants to take over the arts centre, which opened in 2008, and provide places for 500 A-level students.
However, the plans have been met with opposition, and a petition against the proposals has been submitted to the council. And tonight members of the borough's full council were due to debate the petition at a meeting at Sandwell Council House.
Talks are continuing to take place between the council and the college and a final decision is due to be made by late summer in order for the sixth form to open in September 2014.
The petition calls for 'The Public to remain as a valuable community, cultural and learning resource for everyone'. It has been organised by apprentices from the LearnPlay Foundation, a tenant at the New Street venue.
Petition organiser James Higgs, from West Bromwich, will also address councillors at the meeting.
He said: he would be addressing members as to what The Public means to people in the area.
"I'm going to go in and tell them that I have lived in West Bromwich all of my life and The Public is a positive driving force.
"It is not just a big pink building that people think it is.
"I just hope that they do listen to me."
Sandwell Council took over the management of the New Street centre in 2009 after the Arts Council walked away, and continues to pump £1.5 million a year into the building. Building work on the iconic pink and black structure, designed by architect Will Alsop, started in 1995 and after a number of delays the centre finally opened in 2008.
In 2011 the Arts Council was accused of funding a building that was 'not fit for purpose' in a damning report into the organisation's role in building the centre.
Sandwell's deputy council leader Councillor Mahboob Hussain has said the council wants to secure a long-term future for the building.
Meanwhile, West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson has launched a consultation with businesses and community groups that regularly use The Public to ensure councillors are fully aware of their views before taking a final decision.
