What’s to be done with St Mary? (and who’s to do it?)
Health and Culture portfolio holder at Hastings Borough Council (HBC) Cllr Andy Batsford has a whole host of challenging issues in his in-tray. But top of the pile is surely what to do with St Mary in the Castle, the Grade-II* listed church-turned-arts-venue on Hastings seafront.
Two months ago, the Trustees who have managed it under a charitable trust for the past nine years announced that they will be surrendering their lease in November, admitting that they can no longer bridge the gap between revenue and costs. They had received financial assistance from the Arts Council’s Culture Recovery Fund during the Covid pandemic, but (unlike the White Rock Theatre down the road) no subsidy from HBC throughout their tenure. Now it will revert to HBC as freehold owner with no onward bookings and no programme for future use. And that means no income stream to cover ongoing maintenance costs of the building, which in this winter of soaring energy bills will become an immediate major financial drain.
Arts and community groups have made plenty of noise both on social media and in face-to-face meetings about keeping the building as an arts and cultural centre for community use. And Cllr Batsford has made it plain that HBC would in principle favour a bid from this quarter with a strictly nominal price tag, provided that pockets are shown to be sufficiently deep to guarantee future repair and maintenance provision.
Superficially there are similarities with the Hastings Pier scenario in 2018, when a prize asset of the town was released to a private bidder with minimal outlay and no security for its long-term preservation. There are, however, some differences.
HBC would point out that they had no role in the Pier negotiation, which was conducted by London-based insolvency administrators inadequately instructed by the Heritage Lottery Fund (plenty of people think the council could and should have got involved, but that’s another story). Furthermore, it’s not likely that any community crowd-funder would raise the same kind of money – several hundred thousand pounds – which the Friends of Hastings Pier were able to offer as security for their (rejected) alternative. The general economic climate may not have seemed altogether rosy then, but it’s clearly a lot bleaker four years on.
Cllr Batsford has disclosed that a brochure is being drawn up by the HBC estates team for marketing of St Mary by commercial agents Dyer and Hobbis, and has declined to offer any commitment that the building will remain as an arts or entertainment venue. The prospect of a casino installation has been mooted – a new take on the biblical story of the temple being given over to the money-changers.
Alternative ideas
At a recent meeting convened by the Hastings Creatives group, a range of alternative ideas were explored, including a proposal that HBC lump into their disposal offer the revenue raised from the shops on Pelham Crescent and, more particularly, from car parking on the other side of the road. That area belongs to the Foreshore Trust, though, which relies upon its parking revenue to fund many other local community enterprises.
What is commonly acknowledged is that any community bid which relies upon external funding bids will take time to mount – at least six to nine months, maybe more. Will HBC be willing to wait?
In the short term, however, there is a form of screen entertainment that might bring community audiences back to
St Mary over November and December: the World Cup football matches beamed in from Qatar. Four years ago St Mary hosted well-attended screenings of England’s progress to the later stages of the competition played in Russia. If Sir Gareth’s team shows similar staying power this time, that could offer HBC a repeat opportunity to cash in – and if the games get heated, so much the better.
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