Friday, December 18, 2009
Money squandered to no effect
The large advertisement in the Press today (19 December 2009) asking people to view the model of the proposed Music School building at the Art Gallery, prompts me to ask just how much the University is spending on continuing to promote a cause which the overwhelming majority of Christchurch residents have proclaimed loudly and clearly that they do not want on this site. Today's advertisement is only one of several large advertisements which have appeared in the Press in recent days. Earlier in the campaign the university also ran a series of large scale advertisements. Added to this are the glossy brochures, the question and answer handouts and the large colour posters appearing in various locations around the city. The model itself can't have come cheaply The promotional bill for this project must be starting to reach a sizable sum by now. Nor should we forget the cost of all the staff time that has been diverted from productive teaching and research roles to writing submissions and sitting in at Council consultation hearings. On top of that, of course, are the fees for the architects, growing by the minute as plans are changed and designs resubmitted. Then there are the fees for all the other consultants including resource management planners, engineers, heritage consultants and lawyers. Expenses will grow dramatically when legal hearings begin. Many of these consultants would have been unnecessary for a building at Ilam and if resource consent is not granted a whole new set of expenses will be incurred to redesign on campus. Rumour has it that the University has already spent $1.25 million, with nothing to show for it. The tragedy is that the much needed new music building could already be well underway by now if the University had chosen the logical course of building at Ilam. The money frittered away in the attempt to impose a building where it is not wanted could have been spent on ensuring that a truly inspirational design was developed for a music school combined with a multi-use performing arts centre on campus, which would enrich the lives of all students and be of benefit to the whole of Christchurch.
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7 comments:
Hi
What has happened to the money that the Arts Centre received from the sale of Old Girl's High School?
Ilam is not an appropriate site for a school of music as there is not much of an audience there.
The Arts Centre would be one of the best inner city options.
Wasting taxpayers money is to build a school where nobody will visit performances.
The vicious campaign against the school of music and its representatives by the SOAC is a sad reflection on the state of the arts in Christchurch.
Good question about the money. It seems a lot of it has been used pursuing development schemes at the Arts Centre.
SOAC members include many prominent musicians and artists within the city. SOAC has always supported the need for a new music building. It is the location we have a problem with. We would love to see a splendid new building on campus and if there were, we believe audiences would attend at Ilam as readily in town.
When the University opened its Ilam facilities ,having moved them from the centre of the city, it became immediately clear that audiences were not visiting Ilam.The School of music was forced to arrange concerts at the Arts Centre.This has not been very successful as the University does not get preferential bookings and dates are usually midweek dates.The weekend ones are often reserved for weddings and other commercial events.Other events like masterclasses ,lecture concerts etc are virtually impossible to arrange.
To suggest to go back to Ilam is,in the light of this a campaign against the school of music.
"A splendid new building" it may be ,but in the wrong place.And I have not seen any "support" by the SOAC for a new school of music building anywhere.
Another issue that the Arts Centre needs to answer is why is the Great Hall being used for weddings instead of concerts?
If the School of Music could book, in advance, a number of concerts through out the year before the Arts Centre takes wedding bookings, this would resolve the need for an inner city performance venue.
On the other hand, the last thing the Ilam campus needs is music to be taken off campus, in the same way that drama is also off campus.
Universities around the world - with less students and more remote locations - have vibrant performing arts programmes, performances and festivals. Why is this not the case at Ilam?
These above mentioned "universities around the world" are not so numerous.In Europe virtually all schools of music are independent , not being part of any university.
In the USA you have mixed solutions,all the prominent schools e.g. in New York(Manhatten,Juilliard,Mannes),Boston,Philadelphia, are independent,some like in California,Yale are part of Universities,but these are often not primary adresses for musical training.
Ilam does not work as a site as the Christchurch audiences do not go there.
A school of music without its own concert facilities would be an odd solution,so far it has not worked and I doubt it ever will.
Taking music off the Campus is no big loss,as there has been minimum interest from students and staff.
To move things forward a change is needed,though it is highly questionable whether that will happen in Christchurch.
As even "prominent musicians from Christchurch" oppose the move (who are they ?? Apart from Malvina Major and that newly appointed German piano professor,both advocats for central location, there are no musicians living here who have any international standing.) things will get stuck,as it happened with the museum years ago.
The vicious approach of the SOAC group against any change will also chase away the Court Theatre,as they have already publicly announced. In the end the Arts Centre will be mainly a place to eat.
The Dux is just looking after itself the idea of the building is great. The Dux would not be operating now if the same attitude was taken over 20 years ago to developing a bar/restaurant on the corner it is presently located. How rich of someone to now deny the same blossoming of opportunity that develops talent not the claws of monetary opportunity presented to someone in the same position back in the 70s. Alas the emperor is not naked I hope.
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