Call to action: Write to your Cardiff Councillor NOW to Save St David’s Hall!
St David’s Hall. Pic: Walt Jabsco
There’s only a few days to save St David’s Hall before Cardiff council’s cabinet could sign its death warrant and hand it over to a foreign company, Live Nation Inc. at its cabinet meeting on 15 December.
ACT NOW. Write to your Cardiff councillor/s to demand they keep St David’s Hall as a beloved asset of the people of Cardiff!
Write to your Cardiff councillor now to tell them why you love St David’s Hall so much and why it should be kept in public hands and not handed over to profiteers, who care nothing about Cardiff culture! You may have more than one councillor in your ward, if so, please write to them all.
Remember to include your name and address in your email or letter so that your councillor knows that you are one of their voters. A direct message to a councillor from one of their electors is powerful way to influence big decisions.
You may also wish to take inspiration from the wording of Ben Herrington’s change.org petition. We’ve adapted the key messages from that petition below:
Arts and young people
According to a petition launched by staff at the Hall notes, the venue currently hosts arts educational training and access for disabled patrons and young people via Arts Active. I understand that the Hall operates at a significantly reduced subsidy (roughly £700,000 p/a) and returns through its catering and operation divisions a marginal profit and that the reason stated for privatisation is the maintenance backlog.
I am deeply troubled to learn from the petition that AMG/LiveNation has made it clear that they will not offer the arts educational side, and will dramatically reduce the cultural and classical output of St David’s Hall, as their bread and butter is large-scale pop events currently akin to the International arena.
Alternative funding
I am concerned to note that the petition states that no investigation has been made regarding alternative funding streams to raise the money (e.g. the Arts Council for Wales) or private fundraising for the building to clear the maintenance backlog, and the Council said at the meeting that they will not be doing so either, despite a letter being sent to the Council in January 2021, signed by the entire management team wishing to investigate external funding opportunities after the offer of corporate sponsorship to revitalise the building.
Changing the building’s structure
I am dismayed to learn from the petition that the council intends to allow the new operation to undertake large scale structural alterations to a building that is in the process of becoming a listed building, including but not limited to extensive retrofitting to enable a large standing audience to increase the capacity of the venue and increase their profit streams. This would involve the removal of the stalls seating, and structural alterations to the auditorium which have the potential to ruin the acoustics of one of the top 10 concert halls in the world - a jewel in the crown of this capital city.
Cultural loss
I believe that losing cultural output could mean the end of the Festival of Remembrance, Cardiff Singer of the World, the international concert series, the Welsh Proms, the annual Cardiff University graduations and so much more – and would in all reality be a travesty, all happening at a rushed pace without clear information being given to the general public.
Summary
In summary, I believe that St David’s Hall, the National Concert Hall of Wales, is a cultural asset and deserves to be saved. Privatising and potentially permanently losing something so important to both the capital city and the nation cannot be allowed to be rushed through by the council before all options have been investigated.