'Arts' to get ticket boost
By Dan Grimmer on Thursday, 3rd June 1999.
TICKET prices for events atHaverhill Town Hall are set to be slashed as part of an ambitious strategy aimed at attracting more people to the arts venue.
A blueprint for the hall's future has been developed in the wake of concern from councilors that the centre has been missing out on punters.
At a meeting of St Edmundsbury Borough Council the Leisure Services Committee unveiled its strategy to back the centre and raise its profile.
The report, drawn up by a consultant, recommends that the centre be further subsidised to encourage wider use through cut price tickets and special offers.
The report makes a number of further recommendations for the future of the venue, including:
The proposals could raise the net cost of the centre by £80,000 a year if they are all implemented, but officers have pledged to look at ways to absorb these costs within the existing budget.
Gerry Kiernan, Haverhill's borough councilor for the Cangle ward, welcomes the strategy. He said: "We want to get to a stage where, if people in Haverhill want to go out, the town hall is the first place they look."
"One of our problems has been that people would not come into the town."
"The centre has been pretty successful already but this is moving on to the next stage. It has gone from an old, very basic building to an Arts Centre of a very high standard."
A blueprint for the hall's future has been developed in the wake of concern from councilors that the centre has been missing out on punters.
At a meeting of St Edmundsbury Borough Council the Leisure Services Committee unveiled its strategy to back the centre and raise its profile.
The report, drawn up by a consultant, recommends that the centre be further subsidised to encourage wider use through cut price tickets and special offers.
The report makes a number of further recommendations for the future of the venue, including:
- forging better links with amateur groups in the Haverhill area and setting up programmes
mixing professional and amateur entertainment; - use of membership cards for young people's discos and improved security measures;
- employing more staff and reviewing the office accomodation in the centre;
- improving overall programme planning so that public hire of the hall does not clash with
artistic events.
The proposals could raise the net cost of the centre by £80,000 a year if they are all implemented, but officers have pledged to look at ways to absorb these costs within the existing budget.
Gerry Kiernan, Haverhill's borough councilor for the Cangle ward, welcomes the strategy. He said: "We want to get to a stage where, if people in Haverhill want to go out, the town hall is the first place they look."
"One of our problems has been that people would not come into the town."
"The centre has been pretty successful already but this is moving on to the next stage. It has gone from an old, very basic building to an Arts Centre of a very high standard."
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