Huge crowd turns out in support of Ayr Gaiety

Jan 23 2009 by Lisa Boyle

THERE was standing room only at a public meeting on the future of Ayr Gaiety.

Hundreds braved the elements to lend their support to a bid to save the century-old theatre.

The meeting was so well attended that organisers had to move the venue from the Holy Trinity Church hall to the church itself to fit everyone in.

Depute council leader Margaret Toner bravely took to the stage in a bid to answer questions from the public.

However, she was clearly not well briefed on the background and had to be bailed out on several occasions by her fellow councillors.

Cllr Toner told the crowd that several independent reports indicate that the cost of bringing the theatre up to standard is in excess of £4 million and that it was an “impractical investment”.

She added that the council is in talks with three independent organisations to come up with a solution.

The Gaiety is scheduled to close its doors at the end of this month – despite the health and safety certificate being valid until 2010. Many fear it will never reopen.

Several councillors turned up to lend their support to the meeting, however, council leader Hugh Hunter was absent.

MSPs John Scott and Cathy Jamieson failed to attend, citing essential business at the Scottish Parliament.

Dozens of people had their say, including businessman Forbes Robertson who suggested that £4 million was a ludicrous amount to upgrade the theatre.

He said: “The council employ brickies and labourers and we have a great college down there teaching trades. We could work with those young apprentices and teach them at the same time. Look at this great building we are in tonight, it was built by the men of Ayr.

“There’s no way it would cost South Ayrshire Council £4 million to bring it up to standard.”

Jacquii Gavigan founded FIB youth theatre in Ayr three years ago.

Her business started as a class on a Sunday afternoon and now boasts 500 participants and premises at Elmbank studios in Ayr.

Jaquii, 29, said: “If one person can do all that then it would be great if everyone at the meeting can pull together and achieve the same success for the Gaiety.”

Iain Ferguson, from Ayr Racecourse, said: “The racecourse and the Gaiety theatre have a lot in common as major tourist attractions in South Ayrshire.

“For many years, people attending our big race meetings make a point of going on to see a show at the Gaiety.

“Ayr Racecourse itself was under threat just under six years ago. Then new owners took over and it has gone from strength to strength. We wish the Gaiety well in the future. Ayr needs a theatre.”

The meeting was organised by Ayrshire Arts Network.

Chairman Caroline Lorimar went on to say: “There was a really positive feeling at the meeting.

“From our point of view it was a success.

“What we need now is the council to act and we can move forward.”