Edinburgh survey to help plan future cultural investment

Published Tuesday 18 September 2007 at 13:40 by Thom Dibdin

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Edinburgh’s cultural infrastructure and provision for the next 20 years will be shaped by a new report, commissioned by the city council and the regional economic development agency Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian.

Management consultancy PMP has been appointed to carry out the research, which will influence how the council proceeds with a variety of impending cultural initiatives in the Scottish capital.

Refurbishment of the King’s Theatre and the Assembly Rooms are among the more urgent theatre-related projects awaiting decisions from the local authority. The study will encompass all cultural provision, from theatres, museums and art galleries to major outdoor arenas such as the Royal Highland Showground.

The study will map existing and potential arts venue provision in Edinburgh in terms of sites with a capacity of 200 or more. It will cover all venues, whether owned and run by the council or by national and private organisations. Each will be reviewed in terms of audience figures, programme and infrastructure investment. The resulting report will set out an overview of investment required over the next 20 years.

Welcoming the announcement of the study, John Stalker, chief executive of the Festival City Theatres Trust, which runs the King’s and Festival theatres, told The Stage that the cultural infrastructure of Edinburgh is one of its most important assets.

“The city faces a massive deficit following years of under-investment in its cultural infrastructure” he said. “It has to deal with that if it is going to sustain the Edinburgh International Festival and the fringe festival and all the other festivals into the future.

“It is important that it is done strategically and in an organised way - not an ad-hoc way, which one might have suggested the Assembly project looked like being.”

Jon Morgan, director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, added that he looked forward to working with PMP and that he is unconcerned that the report will not examine venues with a capacity of less than 200.

“It is not about fringe venues really, it is about year-round provision,” he said. “I don’t doubt that they will to take into account the implication for the festivals as well.” PMP is due to deliver the final report in Spring 2008.