St Mary on the Market, Opus to Close
St Mary in the Castle, the Grade II-listed church turned arts and music venue beneath West Hill, has been put on the open market for sale or lease. Freehold owners Hastings Borough Council (HBC) took back responsibility for the building at the beginning of November following the withdrawal of the charitable trustees who were previous leaseholders, and have taken little time in placing it with estate agents Dyer and Hobbs. The asking price for the freehold is £500,000. Alternatively a lease is on offer at £45,000 per year with full liability for repairs and insurance.
HBC cabinet member for health and culture, Cllr Andy Batsford has provided an open letter to accompany the marketing, in which he writes that, notwithstanding the financial challenge which will “take deep and sustainable finances and pockets”, the council is hoping to retain the building “as a key cultural asset for the town…We want to ensure this beautiful building is kept safe and invested in, so future generations of Hastings residents and visitors can come and enjoy, be inspired, and contribute to the creative legacy Hastings is building”.
CREDIT: Dave Young
No explanation has been offered by HBC as to the valuation placed on the freehold or on its rental offer, and many commentators on social media have picked up on the discrepancy between Cllr Batsford’s stated aspirations to retain the building for community and/or “cultural “ purposes and its marketing as a commercial asset. In the latter case, potential future development as a casino has been mooted, though no specific operator is known to have come forward. It’s not clear how the council would react if one did.
As to the idea of a community buy-out, there have been plenty of digital voices in support, but no champion has emerged who might lead it. The recent bruising experience of crowd-funding the bid for Hastings in 2018 no doubt remains a factor – but, even more so, the idea of sustaining the upkeep of the building long term without assurance of ongoing public subsidies. Over the last two years St Mary received more than £87,000 as a Covid recovery grant, over £50,000 from Arts Council England and £18,000 from HBC. These sums were not enough to keep it going against the immense running costs of a building which suffers perennial damp problems inherent in its position beneath the castle cliff.
Opus closure
St Mary is renowned for its acoustics for classical (non-amplified) music performance. There was a double whammy for classical music enthusiasts last week, therefore, when a separate announcement was made that the Opus Theatre, housed within His Place church on Cambridge Road – another Grade-II listed building – had also been closed “with immediate effect”.
Founding director and promoter Paolo Piatti, who has run the Opus venture for the past five years as an adjunct to his career as a classical composer, indicated that the main reason for his decision to close is a personal one. His announcement was made “with a heavy heart”, but he went on to explain – “my activities and commitments as a composer have grown on an unprecedented scale, thereby making it impossible for me to continue to run the venue at the same time”.
As with St Mary’s, the problem is succession. “To avoid a complete closure of the theatre and all it stands for, I tried to pass on the baton to several people who I believed would be able to carry on our ethos,” Piatti wrote, “but sadly in the end they all declined, mainly due to either lack of time or funding.”
Piatti enthused “on many fabulous events and the incredible international performers who agreed to perform in Hastings for the very first time…. I can proudly say that we created some truly magical moments and managed to build the best of reputations in the process”. He says that he will retain the Opus Theatre brand for potential promotion of future pop-up events – but not at the building.
Ironically, the community church which owns the His Place building has recently been awarded a grant of nearly £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to undertake urgent repairs to its stonework and glass, as well as to underwrite a community-based music heritage project called Make a Joyful Noise. The closure of Opus will presumably not jeopardise that initiative. But it’s a second illustration that heritage assets of this kind need constant financial boosts if they are to keep serving the community.
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