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Posts from the ‘News’ Category

Mar 1

Culture attendance record, plans past 2008 and other developments in Liverpool

Phil Redmond and Bryan Gray have this week outlined their vision for the future of the Liverpool Culture Company. The legacy for the city beyond 2008 should be more than just about the arts, the pair claim. Social issues and the environment should also play a part, and both Mr Gray and Mr Redmond hope to bring a large number of their contacts in to contribute. Mr Gray gave examples of the inspiration behind cultural plans for the years ahead. He said: “Why do we have all these theatres but not one world-class theatre? It will not happen by three theatres having separate development plans.”

On a related note, those who know about these things have suggested that the number of people to attend a cultural event this year will top 10 million. More than a million people have already been to such events since the Capital year was officially opened in January. Liverpool City Council claimed that the figure was roughly double the combined attendance at Anfield and Goodison since the start of 2008.

Developments Elsewhere:
New pictures illustrate plans for the re-vamped St. John’s shopping centre.
Lime Street’s Concourse House is finally to disappear, to the apparent glee of everybody. The shops in front of Lime Street Station’s famous facade have been vacated, and the area will be graced with a public space with trees and pedestrian access. Demolition of Concourse House is to begin within two months, culminating in the creation of a panorama suitable to greet the myriad visitors this city receives each year.
Other demolitions have are attracting less welcome from the locals. The community group responsible for ‘Better Environmental Vision for Edge Lane’s proposals’ or Bevel Plan B, have been branded unrepresentative of the community at large, without membership fees, list of members or formal meetings. Elizabeth Pascoe, leader of Bevel, vowed to seek a judicial review if the inquiry upholds the Compulsory Purchase Order.

Follow-up: After postcards of Birkenhead Park were put on display in the park’s pavilion, the Grade I listed site has been awarded the green flag, a national standard for excellence.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7270872.stm

Feb 25

New Beatles Museum, park postscards, and Councillors accused of being intimidating

A new Beatles museum is being planned for the revamped Pier Head, part of the new Pier Head-based Mersey Ferries terminal. While the irony of this association may have been lost on the builders, the new museum will offer visitors a single ticket for both the ferries and the main Beatles Story at the Albert Dock. Jerry Goldman, director of the Beatles Story, said that plans for the main site had to be changed due to lack of space. The space at the Albert Dock will be doubled, but the Pier Head exhibition will allow them to ‘complete the picture‘.

Although not officially falling within Liverpool’s boundary’s, another of Merseyside’s attractions is drawing attention with the release of a set of postcards of Birkenhead Park. Glyn Holden has been collecting the cards since 1972, showing the Grade II listed park, opened in 1847. The design inspired later parks, such London’s Victoria Park, and Central Park in New York. Wirral Council have given £500 to allow the cards to be shown in the parks pavilion exhibition.

Weak finances and lack of a long-term vision have been two accusations levelled at city councillors recently, as part of an audit into the way a number of local councils are run. In addition, the behaviour of councillors in meetings and the ‘leaking’ of information to the press for short-term political gain have been highlighted in the report. This comes less than a month after the news that Liverpool City Council were revealed as the worst-run financially.

Feb 10

New listings for city centre buildings

To highlight Liverpool’s important Georgian built heritage, two buildings in the town centre have been listed. The town houses, on Dale and York Streets, are rare survivals of the new types of retail space developing at the time, and are two of only a few examples seen outside London.

However, Wayne Colquhoun,  founder of the Liverpool Preservation Trust, is generally pessimistic about the way Liverpool looks after its Georgian terraces.

Barclay’s Bank, Water Street, and 57 Parr Street are on a list of buildings with connections to slavery, whose listing details have been updated to better reflect their infamous links. Other candidates on the list include buildings in Bristol, Leeds, Cambridge and Hull. The list was announced by Margaret Hodge, and put together with the help of English Heritage.

Feb 5

Oldest settlement, and Liverpool museum nominated for award

A couple of interesting pieces of news concerning the North-West’s heritage, ancient and modern:

One of the oldest pieces of settlement evidence in the north-west has come to light on an excavation near Junction 6 on the M62. Although the motorway scheme will go ahead unchanged, the site should remain hidden safe beneath the junction at Tarbock Island.

The new International Slavery Museum has been nominated for the Art Fund Prize for Museums
, formerly the Gulbenkian Prize. The highly praised museum only opened in the final part of last year, but has already attracted a great number of visitors.

Jan 31

More upheaval at Liverpool City Council

Just days after Liverpool Council was labelled the worst in the country for financial management, the chief executive of the city’s Capital of Culture programme has quit. Jason Harborow, who also headed up the council’s Culture, Media and Sport department, is understood to be receiving a £230,000 pay off, allowing him to concentrate on “other personal business opportunities”. Since the cancellation of the Mathew Street festival, problems between Mr. Harborow and council leader Cllr Warren Bradley have been high profile. This culminated in Bradley calling for Harborow to be relieved of his duties.

Merseyside’s railway stations are to get £1.76m worth of investment in order to improve accessibility. The lucky stations are Bidston, New Brighton, Southport, Wallasey Grove Road and Wallasey Village on the Merseyrail Electrics network and Newton le Willows and St Helens Junction on Northern Rail’s City Line.

And finally, to prove that naming streets after notable citizens isn’t confined to the Victorians, a street in Warrington Collegiate has been named after Great Britain and Warrington rugby league star Mike Gregory, who died after a long battle with motor neurone disease late last year.

Jan 29

New Culture Secretary in his ‘dream job’

In the latest cabinet re-shuffle by Mr Brown, James Purnell has been replaced as Culture Secretary by Andy Burnham, who grew up in Newton-le-Willows. Already he has been to visit his ‘home town’, and given a tour by the director of National Museums Liverpool, David Fleming. Without irony, the ‘lifelong Evertonian’ then went to Anfield to watch Liverpool’s match. Nevertheless, it’s good to see rapid attention paid to Liverpool in its Capital of Culture year. The previous Secretary, James Purnell, trumpeted the importance of heritage in modern society, so naturally some worry about the arrival of yet another MP in this importance position, in this important year. Phil Redmond, Culture Company creative director, noted that as an Evertonian, Andy will have ‘strong cultural and emotional links’ to the city. We can only hope his term in office lives up to promises Phil expresses. Of course, his biggest challenge, as for any culture secretary in these times, is the Olympic Games, and the Cultural Olympiad which runs alongside it.

Jan 27

Developments in Liverpool

Although Liverpool experienced unprecedented expansion in the 19th Century, the region rarely stands still today. Not all the schemes meet with universal approval…

A court confrontation in court between English Partnerships and a group of academics has raised concerns that the demolition of housing on Edge Lane – part of the efforts to build a new gateway into the city – will be “10 times more expensive” than refurbishment. There are also issues of the amount of carbon produced and impacts to wildlife and the community to consider. More details on the Liverpool Daily Post web site.

A project aiming to enhance the appearance of both sides of the river at night was outlined yesterday in a presentation to the Mersey Waterfront Regional Park. The “spectacle of light” will be a temporary fore-runner of a more permanent installation which will highlight features such as the Seacombe and Woodside ferry terminals, and the Art Deco ventilation shafts on both sides of the river. It is hoped that a new night time ‘river cruise’ service will attract a large number of tourists. The trial run will take place in November of this year.

A change in the traffic flow for the next four months will cause chaos in the city centre, say opposition councillors. The closure of the Lord Street/North John Street junction is part of the Castle Street Enabling Works Project, in turn part of the £73m City Centre Movement Strategy. Cllr Mike Storey, executive member for regeneration, said: “This work is essential as part of the overall scheme. We are working closely with local businesses to keep them informed about progress and listening to their views about the scheme.” The Liverpool council website has more details of the Enabling Works.

Finally, following on from trouble he had building a golf links in Scotland, Donald Trump may soon bid to build a course in Hoylake.

Jan 12

Part 2 of the celebrations

After last night’s successful People’s Opening on St. George’s Hall Plateau, tonight sees the second part of the festivities for the start of the Capital of Culture year. Again starting at 20:08 GMT, Liverpool: the Musical is billed as a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ experience. Ringo Starr will be taking to the stage again, along with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Pete Wylie, the Wombats, alongside an ‘audio-visual spectacular’ and 90 minutes of film footage shown throughout the programme. Tonight’s event marks the inauguration of the 10,500 seat Echo Arena. More details here.

Jan 11

Liverpool Newsnight Special

Ahead of this weekend’s celebrations, Newsnight will be showing a special edition focussing on the next few days, and the coming year, in the Capital of Culture.

Newsnight, 10:30pm, BBC2

Jan 9

Culture celebrations begin, the Europe’s Other Capital of Culture and Liverpool’s many face-lifts

Capital of Culture Opening Ceremony
This Friday witnesses the People’s Opening of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations. Nigel Jamieson, artistic co-director for the event told icLiverpool: “It will be something those who go will remember for the rest of their lives.” With a mixture of established acts (Ringo Starr, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) plus other special guests) and younger generation artists, the 40 minute show includes cranes (of course), aerial performers and extreme sports enthusiasts. “There will be people performing in spaces and on stages where you’d never imagine them to perform,” Jamieson said.

Related: Merseyside Police ban ’08 related holiday.

Banksy mural covered up –
A mural of a rat by renowned artist Banksy has had to be partially covered by hoarding as part of the ongoing effort to hide eyesores in the city during the Capital of Culture year. The Liverpool Culture Company said it had “no choice”, as the building on which it was painted – the White House pub at the junction of Berry and Duke Streets – is in such a state of disrepair. Interestingly, a different take can be found on the Liverpool Regional Development Agency website, which brands it a ‘dressing’ of the buildings, with six other ‘selected’ structures. This is the Look of the City project, an attempt to cover with artwork as many ugly buildings as possible, while increasing numbers of visitors wander around the town during the next twelve months.

Welcome to Stavanger
It’s not only Liverpool that’s enjoying a year as European Capital of Culture. The Norwegian city of Stavanger, on the south west coast is paired with the British city in holding the title for 2008. The town has a booming oil-related industry, and is well known, at least locally, for its large number of wooden buildings, and ‘Christmas card image’. It is already a wealthy place, and so their version of the event is less concerned with generating tourism and attracting business investment, and generates as much local cynicism as in Merseyside. Details at the BBC News website

Other news:

Garden Festival site ‘should be left wild‘;
The new St John’s Shopping Centre unveiled.

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