Falkirk Council: New town hall will be on High Street

The council said it is currently “liaising with local land owners with a view to provisionally buying a site on Falkirk High Street” for a new town hall.

The comment came in response to concerns from a local network of arts groups who say that there is “distrust and cynicism” after years of being promised a new theatre for the district with nothing to show for it.

With the town hall set to close for the last time in February, the chair of Falkirk Arts Network, Kathryn Grainger, said they are “appreciative of the support offered so far by council officers, especially with finding alternative venues for next year’s shows which had originally been booked for Falkirk Town Hall theatre”.

At the last full council meeting of the year, councillors agreed there could be flexibility between a £10,000 fund to help local groups find a new venue and a £50,000 fund to create a new district-wide arts programme to replace FTH’s usual offering.

They have also been told that improvements will be made to Bo’ness and Grangemouth town halls, to help them accommodate the sort of shows that FTH usually hosts.

But Ms Grainger said there is still uncertainty over the future of the arts in Falkirk as both Grangemouth and Bo’ness town halls are on the list of buildings that are due to close or transfer out of council ownership over the next three years.

She said: “This could mean that there could be even fewer venues available before a new arts centre/town hall materialises. It will be very difficult for groups to plan shows if they can’t be sure the venues will still be open.

“It’s hard to remain positive and believe in a future for the arts in Falkirk District, when decisions made by the Council seem to indicate that it is not high on their list of priorities.”

At the council meeting, members heard that using venues around the district, outside Falkirk town centre, could be a positive step for outlying communities.

But after FTH’s heating failed for a second time during this year’s pantomime run, Ms Grainger said hearing that “only serves to fuel the distrust and cynicism of performing arts groups and others who use these facilities when it comes to the council’s future plans”.

In September, it was announced that FTH will permanently close in February 2023 after the report detailed the costs of bringing the venue up to modern standards were judged to be too high.

But members of Falkirk’s arts community believe that the town hall should not have been allowed to get so run down, especially given the fact that promises to build a replacement have come to nothing.

Ms Grainger said: “It was stated in the meeting that the problems encountered this week only go to highlight the fact that the building is no longer fit for purpose. That may well be true, but the town hall should have been properly maintained in the first place. And if an agreement had been made in 2021 in regard to the plans proposed for a new arts centre then we’d have the assurance that Falkirk wouldn’t be without a proper performance venue.

“However, we may now have to wait at least five years for that to be the case.

While the council hopes that a new venue could be in place in as little as three years, members of FAN are not so optimistic and believe it will take at least five years.

Falkirk Council said they wanted to reassure members of FAN that plans to build a new town hall are very much on the agenda and a budget is there.

A spokesperson said: “Falkirk Council has had long-held ambitions to build a new arts venue for the area and as such it was sensible for investment in the existing Falkirk Town Hall to be kept to a minimum. This protected taxpayers’ money and maximised the amount of money available to build the new venue.

“The council’s executive committee agreed in principal in December to a phased approach to the closure of a number of council buildings. Grangemouth and Bo’Ness Town Halls were included on this list but under the plan they would remain open until 2026 when we would hope to have a replacement Falkirk Town Hall in place.

“Closer to the time if the new venue was not ready then it seems likely a pragmatic solution would be identified to retain the town halls for an extended period.

“We would also like to reassure the Falkirk Arts Network that the Council has £45 million in place to build a new Falkirk Town Hall and is currently liaising with local land owners with a view to provisionally purchasing a High Street site for this development. The council remains committed to the project and to arts in the Falkirk area.”