St Mary in the Castle in Hastings is in need of a vision for its future

It was sad to read in the Observer that the Trustees of St Mary in the Castle are struggling to keep this venue afloat. Many people, including the trustees, have given up their time and energy over the years to keep the venue open against the odds and with little thanks.

If you’ve never visited the building I suggest you do when the current situation changes. Many millions of pounds were spent on its refurbishment in the late 1990’s and it really is the most magical venue. But while the White Rock Theatre up the road enjoyed a £500,000 a year subsidy until recently, St Mary has received very little, and it’s with no surprise that it’s now in financial dire straits with no working heating system.

Since I moved to Hastings over 10 years ago St Mary’s has been in much the same situation and the unfinished façade of Grade II listed shopfronts that greet visitors to this wonderful venue suggests that nobody in a position of responsibility cares. It seems to be the case that Hastings Council is more concerned with planning more arts related buildings from scratch as part of the White Rock Masterplan than simply looking after its existing assets and at least finishing building work that has gone on for over a decade or more.

St Mary in the Castle is perhaps regarded by some people as a liability rather than an asset. Of course such venues need large budgets. But how much would it cost to build such a space? 30 or 40 million pounds I would suggest, maybe a lot more. So is it not time to look at this building afresh and ask some basic questions like “what is it for?” and “what do we want it to do?” and create a sustainable business based on a strong vision for the future. A building of this magnitude cannot survive based on peoples goodwill, yoga classes and tribute bands.

The building’s capacity and acoustics lend themselves to classical music, opera and dance. Establishing and focussing on just these kind of events and uses could be one way of hopefully pulling in funding and one day attracting an audience from well beyond Hastings. It certainly has to have a totally different offering to the White Rock Theatre to justify its existence and only by establishing St Mary’s with a strong identity and perhaps giving dedicated space to theatre, opera and dance companies to operate from can it start attracting the kind of arts funding that Brighton venues and organisations receive year after year.

For a town awash with creatives and attracting more and more people to the town with serious experience in the arts, management and finance it’s a constant frustration to see Hastings venues struggle and left in constant limbo because nobody in a position of power appears to have a vision for them. Cultural regeneration is what has been driving this town forward for the last decade and St Mary’s has to form part of the infrastructure that takes it to the next level.

Please let’s open up the debate beyond Hastings Town Hall and let people with a vision for St Mary’s future come forward.

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