The future of arts in East Lothian’s biggest town would be ‘bleak’ if its mothballed theatre becomes a listed building, a council chief has warned.
The Brunton Hall, in Musselburgh, has been closed since October last year after crumbling concrete was discovered in the building, and faces demolition.
However a meeting of East Lothian councillors today heard that a campaign to have the brutalist building listed by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) could condemn its future.
The council’s head of place Tom Reid told elected members there is no money to rebuild the civic centre, which includes the county’s only public theatre.
He said: “If HES lists the building it will be incredibly difficult for the council to replace it and the outcome would be a bleak future for the arts in the town.”
Councillors were being asked to approve plans to test the waters for potential partners to ease the burden of replacing the theatre with the offer of using part of it as a commercial venture to recoup the costs.
Members were asked to allow officers to issue a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to potential contractors to give them an idea of market reaction.
But they said that potential move could be put at risk if the building was granted listed status.
The theatre was initially shut over two years ago after the discovery of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in the building but some offices remained in use and the debate over its future continued for several months.
At the time of its closure, it was estimated the cost of refurbishment and RAAC remediation was £42.912 million with the cost to demolish and build a new facility estimated to be £50.742 million.
Historic Environment Scotland has launched a public consultation into whether the building should be listed describing it as one of the few examples of civi centre in Scotland with architectural important to survive.
They said: “The building is a major example of post-war civic architecture in Scotland.”
However Mr Reid told the meeting that a move to list The Brunton would put the council in an impossible situation.
He said: “If The Brunton is listed and we were unable to appeal we would be required to reinstate it which will cost us £50million, and that was the estimate a year ago.
“There is no funding available to do this and the cost to keep it mothballed would be considerable as well as security for the building.”
A council spokesperson said after the meeting: “The council considers that, given the extent of the issues with the building, repairing it is financially unviable. Therefore, although unintended, a listed designation would likely compromise our ability to progress an affordable solution to replace the Brunton.
“Issuing the Prior Information Notice (PIN) gives us the opportunity to explore redevelopment commercial/opportunities for a new arts facility and through offsetting cost against the commercial opportunity.
“The PIN will outline the requirements as being to redevelop the site to include theatre and performance space while redeveloping the remaining part of the site commercially to offset the cost of providing a theatre and performance space.”
Councillors agreed to approve the PIN to test the market and establish a project team to oversee the future of the site with assurances community voices would be involved in proposals.
Councillor Ruaridh Bennett, local ward member, said the move demonstrated the council’s commitment to continue the arts in the town.
He said: “This is an opportunity to be ambitious and develop something which will last a lot longer than The Brunton. It has been encouraging to see the level of support from people all over East Lothian towards The Brunton and the support from this council.”
The consultation by HES is ongoing and the council will be able to make its representation to it as part of the process.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
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