PLANS to turn a former Glasgow-based art centre into a Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame have been described as “a betrayal of what that building is” despite backing from big-name Scottish artists.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) had long been a key cultural hub in Glasgow since it opened in 1992, but closed suddenly in January after it was left for weeks with no senior management.
There have been calls from some members in the Scottish arts community for the building to be kept as a cultural asset and used as rehearsal and performance space for theatre and dance companies.
However, the group ScotsRock have unveiled plans to take over the building, based in the city’s Sauchiehall Street, and convert it into a hub celebrating some of Scotland's top artists.
Among those who have expressed support for the proposal are Ultravox’s Midge Ure, Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, Travis, Del Amitri and Lulu.
Under the proposal, the building would be converted to include a permanent exhibition and visitor experience, along with a live performance venue, a hub to support emerging music and creative businesses, archive and heritage facilities and exhibitions celebrating Scotland’s rock music legacy and its current artists.
Ure hailed the plans as he said: “This has never been done, and it should have been done.
“In hindsight, it's a major mistake. For a small country we punch way above our weight when it comes to global musicians.
“If you go to Cleveland, their Hall of Fame is very American, so I ask myself, why are we not doing the same in Scotland?
“We should be and I'm very proud to be part of it.”
Creative Scotland, who own the building, is looking to sell the building with Culture Secretary, Mairi McAllan, confirming earlier in July that the agency wants to keep it as a “cultural asset” for the city.
Among those who have made their proposal to take over the building is a collective of Glasgow-based theatre and performance artists.
The collective includes experienced companies and artists of numerous generations, ranging from Vanishing Point theatre company, to dance-theatre group Shotput, performance company Disaster Plan and leftfield theatre-maker Mamoru Iriguchi.
The group’s proposal would see Creative Scotland continue as owner of the building, with the companies within the collective contributing to the running costs of the venue from their own budgets.
Matt Lenton, artistic director of Vanishing Point, said their proposal is for a “public-facing” and “audience-centred” hub for theatre and performance in the city and would be in the spirit of the original Third Eye Centre, the previous occupants of the CCA.
“What I would say very clearly is that the term ‘cultural asset’ is meaningless”, Lenton said.
Adding: “A rock ‘n’ roll museum might be a ‘cultural asset’, but, I think that would be a betrayal of what that building is.”
Lenton argued that the collective proposal would “keep the former CCA alive as a living, breathing thing. Down the line, we’ll aim for that building to be accessible to visual artists, performance artists and as many kinds of artists as possible”.
Green MSP Patrick Harvie also previously said it would be a “serious failure” if McAllan allowed Creative Scotland to put the building onto the open market.
He wrote in his column for The National: “It has been the generations of artists, performers, curators, and audiences which made the Third Eye, and the Centre for Contemporary Arts which replaced it, what they were.
“It’s places like these which have enabled Glasgow to become one of Europe’s great cultural cities. Spaces for creativity which are inclusive, community-led and free of the worst aspects of commercialisation are critically important – they are our cultural infrastructure.
“Right now we’re in a very dangerous moment, with parts of that infrastructure already lost and others in peril.”
Creative Scotland have said they have made no decision about the building, but welcome expressions of interest.
