Clitheroe the Future identified in their health-check process the vital part played by St Mary’s Parish Hall in the social fabric of Clitheroe. It is the major large scale venue within the town and acts very much in the role of Clitheroe’s Village Hall. We were therefore very pleased that the Parish Hall Trustees took the decision to look into the possibility of the site combining with the aspirations of Trinity Community Partnership and the Lancaster Foundation to provide an Arts and Social Enterprise Centre for the Ribble Valley.
Clitheroe the Future Partnership as part of its Market Town Initiative Programme secured funding from the North West Development Agency for a design study into the St. Mary’s Site which together with funding obtained by the Parish Hall Trustees and the Local Strategic Partnership enabled the completion of the report attached.
It is essential at this stage of the process to realise that this is a design study to look at what could be included in the site and not a final design. As part of the study the architects also considered the area of land called the Shelters adjacent to the St Mary's Site on York Street. This land which was owned by Ribble Valley Borough Council and the inclusion of the bus lay-by gave the opportunity to maximise the potential of the site.
All parties involved acknowledge that there must be a significant element of sustainability incorporated in the plan and this is why commercial activities must be included in the development. We want to provide a venue which will not be grant or rate subsidised in the future.
We also want to understand the views of the wider public in the Ribble Valley and have therefore incorporated a questionnaire on the site to get some feedback from people on what they would like incorporating in the final design.
We repeat again that this is NOT A FINAL DESIGN.
Have your say regarding the design and development of St. Mary's Arts & Entertainment Centre via the:-Feedback Form.Read a statement from Mr. Geoff Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Partnership and a board member of Clitheroe the Future partnership regarding the development of the Arts & Entertainment Centre.
In October 2003 a limited competition was held to select a design team to assess the suitability of St. Mary's Centre as an Arts plus Social Centre or as a Community resource centre or both.
This competition has come about following three years of work by Trinity Community partnership working in partnership with Ribble Valley Borough Council and other local groups exploring opportunities for the development of an Arts plus Social Enterprise Centre to serve Clitheroe and the Ribble Valley. The project was launched following the sale of The Grand Cinema by Ribble Valley’s Borough Council to the Lancaster Foundation and its conversion to a youth arts venue. This sale and the offer of £2 million from the Lancaster Foundation have made the development of the site a real possibility.
Separately there has been a perceived need that the town needs to strengthen its leisure, cultural and tourist facilities. These facilities will work with and broaden the appeal of the town beyond its historical agricultural roots. This will also strengthen its focus as the heart of the Ribble Valley and providing facilities that may be missing in more rural villages and towns.
For the past two years the main task facing Trinity Community Partnership has been the selection of a site suitable for the Arts + Social Centre. Two previous studies identified a site on Kirkmoor road in Clitheroe, previously the towns Gas works and owned by Ribble Valley Borough Council, as possibly being suitable. A broad based study was undertaken for the site. This included public consultation on the need for and content of an Arts Centre, a design study, detailed costings, impact assessment on the town centre and traffic management and a business plan. This study was completed in May 2003.
As the study was being completed Trinity Community Partnership were made aware of another site that may be more suitable. The trustees of St. Mary’s Centre put forward the Centre as a possible venue. The centre, which is in need of significant renovation has been offered for redevelopment as a community-based facility. Trinity Community Partnership agreed to work with the Centre development group, Clitheroe the Future and Ribble Valley Strategic Partnership to explore the sites potential. Two adjacent sites are included within the study. The Shelters site is the site of some old war shelters and is currently overgrown with trees, this site is owned by Ribble Valley Borough Council.
The other site is the current bus lay by, this runs the whole length of the York street elevation and is owned by Lancashire County Council. The competition was won by a team of internationally renowned consultants led by a Clitheroe based architecture practice, Ivan Wilson Architects.
A design brief was prepared by the Trinity Community Partnership, which identified the main task for the design team as;
Accessing and making recommendations for the St. Mary's Centre sites suitability for development as either;
The assessment will include for the demolition of the existing site to allow new building development, or adaptation and extension of the existing building infrastructure. The team will make a best value comparison of the advantages of undertaking appropriate developments on either the Gasworks site or the St. Mary’s Centre site, and will take account of existing and future developments at The Grand, Clitheroe.
The team will produce a design study for the development best suited to the St. Mary's Centre site. The design study will identify costs of any recommended development. An assessment of the impact of the development of an Arts and Social Enterprise/Community Resources centre at the St. Mary's Centre site in terms of traffic and pedestrian management is also required.
The partners are aware that the site poses challenges because of its town centre position. Amongst the most important are;
There are several important themes that underlie the development of this study. These must be taken into full account and made clear in the outputs. The themes are as follows;
The development may include the following items
The client's ambition for the site was not a 'what I want, is..' but rather a 'what can I have'. Given this approach and the real need for a viable business plan which could shape the project much more than the architecture, our primary concern was to create a development strategy. This development strategy will have to be sufficiently robust so that it can accommodate whatever development was finally proposed for the site. There will be a large number of options or alternatives as the building and business/financing develops. Economic sustainability is a key component of the project and could mean that it in the final scheme, a cinema or theatre could be omitted because of its considered effect on the project long-term viability. The development must provide not just what the town wants but can support allowing for cross subsidy between parts of the development.
This strategy has then been cloaked in a form that reflects our ambition for the project whilst reflecting its tight urban site. The design strives to deliver a number of architectural ambitions:-
These ambitions have been developed in the knowledge that the town and its people can be resistant to change, notwithstanding the benefits the changes may bring, whilst others also bemoan the towns lack of cultural facilities and the travelling they have to do to seek alternatives.
The brief asked for a development of unknown size to be inserted within the town fabric whilst accommodating a 10m change between Church Street and York Street and a 2m change on level along each street.
The user requirements included the following;-
A Theatre/Multi-purpose hall. This has to have movable seating to allow quick and easy change overs. The target seating requirement was set at 600+ to accommodate the local schools for prize giving/assembly events. The theatre stage is expanded to provide orchestra pit, sub-stage, storage and back stage access, this will allow the venue to be used by touring professional companies. The roof has been upgraded to provide better acoustic separation with neighbours, with natural light during the day if required and environmental controls.
Cinemas. Two cinemas have been provided, one seating 240 and a smaller room accommodating 70. These can be used as conference venues as can the fixed upper tier of seating to the theatre.
The symbiotic relationship with the Grand will be important as they are both cultural facilities, however targeting different audiences. There may be some duplication in the dance facilities provided but again it is thought they will be each appealing to different markets. There close proximity will allow them to cooperate fully and hold joint events if wanted.
Have your say regarding the design and development of St. Mary's Arts & Entertainment Centre via the:-Feedback Form.A full copy of the St Mary's Centre Project Design Study is available for download as a Adobe PDF file (32.8MB)
St. Mary's Arts & Entertainment Report (click the right mouse button on the link and choose 'save target as...' from the menu).
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