Clifton Cinema campaigners vow to continue fight for arts centre in Wellington
Campaigners today said they are determined to bring an arts and culture centre to Wellington – even if they cannot buy its former cinema.
Members of the Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd say their shareholders are keen to support them to create a new centre for arts in the town, no matter where that building is.
It comes after town residents called for the charity to fold and return all the donations raised so far.
Chris Heys, of Kingshaye Road, said: "Clifton Community Arts Centre Ltd is a company that was founded to acquire Clifton Cinema, in Wellington.
"The money that was raised was unfortunately nowhere near enough to buy the building. Nor to buy any other building in the locality, in my judgement.
"The liquidation, of the company, should be on the agenda at the next annual meeting.
"Shareholders may wish to take their money back, and to launch a project that has more modest aims."
The group wants to buy the building in Bridge Road, Wellington, and turn it into a community arts venue with a 100-seat digital cinema. It was a cinema from 1937 to 1987 and was later used as a Dunelm store before closing in 2012.
But Fiona Hunter, member of the group, said that though the group had only raised about £31,500, its fundraising had been put on hold for legal reasons after Dunelm announced that the Clifton building had been sold last year.
She added that shareholders, so far, had been widely supportive of their plans to look at other buildings for a new arts centre and that they had sought agreement from them before deciding to look at other venues.
Shareholders were also given legal paperwork three weeks before the meeting to read regarding a possible search for a new building.
She said: "If the building were to come up for sale, we would hope that there would be a much wider interest and more money would come in.
"We could also possibly apply for capital grants, at the moment we can't apply because we don't have a building.
"We can't just run off with the money, it is ring fenced for a community arts centre.
"In a couple of weeks we will be launching a scheme where shareholders, who we call members, will have three months to decide whether they would like to withdraw their money.
"One lady at the annual meeting explained it very succinctly when she said we need an arts and culture centre to lift the town.
"The Clifton will never be what it was in peoples memories, the most important thing is that we have a building for arts and culture in Wellington.
"That is our aim."
