Theatre 'fraught with problems'

The warning was given by a trustee director of the Alexandra Theatre within the Hotham Arts Centre. Adam Cunard told this week's Bognor Regis Civic Society meeting that the proposals to replace the seafront building with a 7m-9m new entertainment complex were fraught with problems.

'If the theatre is knocked down, we may have a replacement for four years,' he claimed. 'We will lose our customer base and it could be impossible to build it up again.'

The town's absence from the theatrical schedules for so long was also likely to see it slip out of the schedules of promoters.

The initial proposal for the new venue by consultants backed by Arun district councillors sees a main 500-seat auditorium capable of combining stage and film shows along with three smaller venues with capacities of 50 to 150 seats.

The entire complex would have an upmarket feel with a brasserie to tempt visitors to spend time and money in the luxurious surroundings.

Mr Cunard said the economic case for the replacement complex was unsound. 'The finances don't stack up,' he explained. 'We can do the same thing with the existing building for about 2m and we don't need any high-rise flats on the site either.

'The consultants are pricing their finances on something that works in London '“ 15 to see a film is never going to work in Bognor because you are never going to pull in the people with that price. But that is where the money is going to come from to subsidise the theatre.'

He said the recommended proposals lacked a fly tower to rule out hosting any major productions and would also only have a stage at floor level. But he did welcome the prospect of flexible seating in the main venue.

The Capitol venue in Horsham, which was similar to the Bognor proposals, required a 300,000 annual subsidy, he added.

'There are so many unanswered questions with this consultants' report,' he added.

Members of the civic society used the meeting to call for extensive public consultations about the proposed entertainments complex.

They said they wanted the town's residents to have several chances for their views about the scheme to be taken into account before a final go-ahead is given. They expressed fears that the proposed replacement for the Hotham Arts Centre/Regis Centre could merely build up the same problems of lack of capacity and constant funding problems which have blighted the current building. Ian Harding said the council risked repeating the mistakes of the Regis Centre. 'They should look and see what they need, look and see what they want and then find the money they want. They should not build to budget, as they have done in the past,' he stated. Hugh Coster, the society's deputy chairman, said he was concerned that the developer, St Modwen Properties, could change its mind halfway through the project about supplying 5m towards the theatre. Such tactics had been used before by development companies.

'There is a clear risk Arun might have to subsidise the theatre and they have said they don't want to do that,' he stated.

l SEE REPORT ON PAGE 9