THE ARTRIX Holding Trust says it is doing all it can to get the arts centre up-and-running and get a new sustainable future for the venue.
At the meeting of the group on Thursday, Coun Peter Whittaker was elected as chair and Coun Charles Hotham as vice-chair.
Coun Whittaker said: “Everyone can see it has enormous local support.
“The trustees have commissioned and considered professional expert advice on the options and they all point to Artrix needing to harness all of that support.
“It’s clear that every option that could bring a sustainable, substantial arts and culture offering back to Artrix will require some level of subsidy, whether that’s money, voluntary efforts, or both.
“We have this excellent quality facility, but we must acknowledge the fact that as a small community arts centre it is never going to have big revenues.”
So what happens now?
The holding trust is talking to a range of potential stakeholders across the community about the possibility of support for Artrix.
Coun Whittaker added: “That will then determine what the real options are for a tangible, sustainable, business case.”
He added one of the stakeholders was the district council.
“There’s been a lot of talk about council funding in the press and, while it’s obviously true that the council could be one source of funding, the trust has to go and have that conversation with others as well as with the council.
“The council’s position will be an important consideration for any business case, but it is by no means the only one.”
Green funding and rent from the NHS
Coun Whttaker said: “Of course the trust, working with the council, has in the meantime secured significant capital investment from the government to green the building and cut its heating bills, which all reduces costs and helps a business case to stack up.
“On top of that, the NHS treated it very well and the rent they paid to the trust is helping us to get the professional advice we need.
Harbouring support
The trust said it had ‘really taken heart from the groundswell of support for Artrix, locally, regionally, even nationally’.
Standard readers also expressed their love in a double letters page printed in last week’s paper and online.
Coun Whittaker added: “We are also now looking into how much of this passion and expertise we could bring directly into the project in the future, under reviewed governance arrangements.
“We’re very grateful for the involvement of organisations like Bromsgrove Arts Alive and all the community partners who have supported the trust to date.”
Artrix has been closed as an arts venue since its former operator went into administration at the very start of Covid-19 restrictions in 2020.
The trust, supported by the national Theatres Trust, is currently working on plans to find a sustainable future for the facility which was temporarily used by the NHS as the area’s mass Covid-19 vaccination centre.
Anyone wanting to get in touch with the Artrix Holding Trust with ideas and fund-raising streams can email [email protected] with their contact details.
