New tenant needed for St Mary-in-the-Castle
20/7/11- Barbara Rogers outside St Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings
THE businesswoman running St Mary-in-the-Castle will leave in the summer when her contract ends and a new tenant is being sought by the council.
Barbara Rogers, together with a small team, has managed the iconic seafront building since March 2009 for various events and concerts.
The Grade II listed church building’s future was thrown into doubt last July when Hastings Trust’s multi-million pound Myplace bid from the Government was turned down.
The charity wanted to turn St Mary-in-the-Castle into a youth hub.
Following the news Ms Rogers and Hastings Borough Council (HBC) hammered out an agreement, meaning she will be running the cafe and venue until August 31 this year.
The council has now formally begun its search for new tenants for St Mary-in-the-Castle to continue running it as an arts venue.
Ms Rogers said: “I will not be applying because the council is looking for big organisations to take on a 25-year lease. What we have been doing is keeping the place warm, paying the rates and slowly building St Mary-in-the-Castle up as a venue.
“It’s quite a big risk for the council and a shot in the dark because if no one comes forward the place will have to close. It’s a distinct possibility.”
She said the biggest difficulty she has had is booking regular events, especially annual ones, because of the uncertainty surrounding St Mary-in-the-Castle in the past, especially the constant delay over the Myplace bid.
Councillor Jeremy Birch, council leader, said: “Barbara Rogers and her team have done a great job making this beautiful Georgian building available as a community facility.
“They will remain in the building until the end of August and it will be business as usual until we have made our final decision.
“We are putting the lease out to tender to make sure we get the best value for money and to hear ideas on how to make even better use of St Mary-in-the-Castle.”
The council is looking for several requirements to running the building. It must be available to the community for a minimum of 100 days every year and occupiers must respect and maintain the former church’s fixtures and fittings.
The structure dates back to the 1820s and many of the original features still remain, including the pew boxes and painted support pillars.
First stage proposals will be accepted from the end of March and further information is available from commercial property agents Dyer and Hobbis on 01424 423626.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
strongangelstar
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 02:14 AMBravo the Observer, for coming down from its self appointed tree of superior fruitfulness and permitting good soul BARBARA ROGERS the spaceopportunity to state her case, which is an accurate assessment of the situation unlike your report âNew tenant needed for St Mary-in-the-Castleâ and editorial on the issue. I was on the very first committee, which rescued St Mary's In the Castle from dereliction and endeavoured, in the face of one hostile Council member upon another to get the concept of an Arts Centre to match the quality of Art produced in this Town, up and running. Not only did we Friends Of St Maryâs In The Castle âFOSMICâ have to cope with the overt hostility of various Councillors and Town Hall Officers, but we had in our very midst Administrators so wrapped up in the petty political dealings that sully the workings of this Borough that from the onset it was apparent the dreams of the talented few were going to be thwarted eventually by the burgeoning number of artless weasels ever keen to involve themselves in wrecking the prospects genuine FOSMIC members hoped for. Unfortunately as like in every other area of Hastings so called planningâ the artless weasels have won out yet again and as Barbara Rogers intimates, the likelihood is St Maryâs in the Castle will become another neglected piece of Compulsory Purchase land for their gang to capitalize on at some point in the future. Accurately and with obvious dignified anger Barbara identifies one of the artless weasels. In two decades I have yet to meet a genuine person who has voted for that stoat look-alike. When is the Hastings Observer going to investigate the integrity of local election counts? It will be a great loss to Hastings if Barbara Rogers does leave St Maryâs In The Castle, but I for one share her disgust at the Council and believe so too should every individual who wishes to see this town be rid of a local authority tier that is not fit for purpose and drags good people down in order to maintain its own very expensive skin. â§*
strongangelstar
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 01:37 AMComment removed by moderator
PeterParkinson
Monday, January 30, 2012 at 07:41 PMIn 2006 I had plans forSt. Mary's to be a TV station but nobody wanted to invest in advertising and promoting Hastings. The director of leasure aproved it but with no money how will the place survive without Hastings Vision TV So why bother so many have been and gone, a 25 year lease will be a long and hard burdon the company running the place. It better be cheap for a 25 year lease. Maybe when the Marina is built and the pier saved with these plans New Plans 2012. http:www.artbreak.comHastingsharbourdevelworks
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