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Author Topic: Broadfield House to Close  (Read 212986 times)

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Offline KevinH

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #120 on: January 26, 2009, 10:32:46 AM »
Notice now added to my Kevh Glass web page
Glass Association now signed
KevinH

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Offline yelooc

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #121 on: January 26, 2009, 10:44:53 AM »
Some Numbers:

Broadfield House hoasted one third of the events at the hugely successful 'International Festival of Glass' in August; 10,000 visitors attended the festival and the council have reported that the event brought in an estimated £500k to the local economy. Broadfield House had 4,800 attendees in August!

Broadfield House visitor numbers are going up every year; the festival is hugely successful.

http://www.ifg.org.uk/home.html

Graham

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Offline aa

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #122 on: January 26, 2009, 10:49:33 AM »
Clearly, Broadfield House is one of the jewels in Dudley's crown!
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Offline yelooc

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #123 on: January 26, 2009, 03:48:23 PM »
I received this today, as did many others:


Directorate of the Urban Environment
Culture & Leisure
Claughton House, Blowers Green Road, Dudley, West Midlands
Tel: (01384) 818181  Fax: (01384) 815599  Minicom: (01384) 814686
www.dudley.gov.uk

Our Ref:  KS/DWL/SAN               Please ask for:  D W Lowndes         Direct Line:  01384 815501      
   


26 January 2009   


Dear Sir/Madam

Broadfield House

Thank you for your letter, which I have read with great interest.

I fully appreciate the concerns that you and others have raised regarding the future of the Borough’s Internationally renowned Glass Collections and how they can be preserved and enhanced for future generations.

I would like to firstly explain that we are not shutting the glass museum and attempting to either put the collections in the existing space at Redhouse Cone or into storage, which appears to be a major worry for many people who have contacted me.

The location of Broadfield House is not ideal from the point of view of a visitor attraction. It is not easily accessible to many people who visit the Red House Cone, which is shown, by the number of visitors to each Museum. There are in excess of 20,000 more visitors to the Cone each year, which is one of the reasons why I would like to look at the option of relocating the entire collection to a single site. Clearly, this would have to entail an expansion of the existing Red House site. 
 
I have called for a study on the feasibility of moving the collections and housing them in the Glass Quarter at The Red House Cone.

I appreciate that this will not be a process that can happen overnight and there will be a great deal of work that needs to be completed to ensure that we have covered all bases and understand fully the complexity and cost of what we would like to achieve. 

I see this very much as an opportunity to enhance and improve the services provided to visitors and glass enthusiasts, set in the context of how the traditional glass was produced and I want to be certain that this can be achieved before any decisions are taken.
 
Sadly, armed with only a small amount of information, the press don’t always reflect the full picture of what is trying to be achieved and therefore I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to explain more fully.

It is heartening to know that there are so many people who care passionately about glass and its place in the boroughs heritage and I will do everything possible to ensure that its place is preserved, protected and enhanced.

I will make sure that we retain your contact details and keep you updated of any progress which will also give you the opportunity to be included in the consultation on any fully worked proposals that may come from our study.

Yours faithfully

Cllr Karen Shakespeare
Halesowen North Ward Councillor
Cabinet Member for the Environment & Culture




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Offline aa

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #124 on: January 26, 2009, 04:00:35 PM »
I too received this and will shortly be replying. My preliminary thoughts are that I am not over impressed. I think we need to keep up the momentum of the campaign. This seems to be standard bureaucrat-speak designed to fob us off and it is certainly not a pledge to keep the museum open.
Hello & Welcome to the Board! Sometimes my replies are short & succinct, other times lengthy. Apologies in advance if they are not to your satisfaction; my main concern is to be accurate for posterity & to share my limited knowledge
For information on exhibitions & events and to see images of my new work join my Facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/adamaaronsonglass
Introduction to Glassblowing course:a great way to spend an afternoon http://www.zestgallery.com/glass.

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Offline yelooc

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #125 on: January 26, 2009, 04:10:04 PM »
Adam,

I totally agree; in fact a councillor told me today that the staff at Broadfield House have been asked to conduct the feasibility study! This and the letter from cll Karen Shakespeare confirms that a study has not been undertaken; so how has a saving of £120k been identified?

In short this letter confirms that, to date, this has been done without a study, budget or plan.

Graham

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Offline sph@ngw

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #126 on: January 26, 2009, 05:08:36 PM »
My take is that if a move must be made,

 (and one needs to be realistic in these challenging economic times), a move to the old Webb Corbett offices instead

 of the Glass Cone would be much better, for the following reasons

 

 1.The Ruskin Centre is the new dynamic heart of glass making in the area- there is no Museum there.

2. Students will visit the Museum and be inspired by what was done before. They could sell their ware in the Museum shop.

3. The building is decaying and needs a purpose, and to be restored with Council help.

4. It is a listed Historic building where glass was made and designed.

5. There is more car parking that at Broadfield House.

6. It is about the size of the Broadfield House, and while perhaps not quite so elegant, already has glass making along side it!

7. Nowadays we have to be constructive and not just say “do not close it!” Councillors can show how much it is costing and how few visitors

    it attracts pro rata, to save £120,000 or about 4/5 council staff jobs a year!

 

Anyway that is my take.

Kind regards,

Stephen.

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Offline sph@ngw

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #127 on: January 26, 2009, 05:13:08 PM »
May I post the official version to stop any untrue rumours going round. I have received this in the last hour thanks to Alan Poole of Dan Klein Assocs.


Directorate of the Urban Environment
Culture & Leisure
Claughton House, Blowers Green Road, Dudley, West Midlands
Tel: (01384) 818181  Fax: (01384) 815599  Minicom: (01384) 814686
www.dudley.gov.uk

Your Ref:                  Our Ref:  KS/DWL/SAN               Please ask for:  D W Lowndes         Direct Line:  01384 815501   


26 January 2009   


Dear Sir/Madam

Broadfield House

Thank you for your letter, which I have read with great interest.

I fully appreciate the concerns that you and others have raised regarding the future of the Borough’s Internationally renowned Glass Collections and how they can be preserved and enhanced for future generations.

I would like to firstly explain that we are not shutting the glass museum and attempting to either put the collections in the existing space at Redhouse Cone or into storage, which appears to be a major worry for many people who have contacted me.

The location of Broadfield House is not ideal from the point of view of a visitor attraction. It is not easily accessible to many people who visit the Red House Cone, which is shown, by the number of visitors to each Museum. There are in excess of 20,000 more visitors to the Cone each year, which is one of the reasons why I would like to look at the option of relocating the entire collection to a single site. Clearly, this would have to entail an expansion of the existing Red House site. 
 
I have called for a study on the feasibility of moving the collections and housing them in the Glass Quarter at The Red House Cone.

I appreciate that this will not be a process that can happen overnight and there will be a great deal of work that needs to be completed to ensure that we have covered all bases and understand fully the complexity and cost of what we would like to achieve. 

I see this very much as an opportunity to enhance and improve the services provided to visitors and glass enthusiasts, set in the context of how the traditional glass was produced and I want to be certain that this can be achieved before any decisions are taken.
 
Sadly, armed with only a small amount of information, the press don’t always reflect the full picture of what is trying to be achieved and therefore I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to explain more fully.

It is heartening to know that there are so many people who care passionately about glass and its place in the boroughs heritage and I will do everything possible to ensure that its place is preserved, protected and enhanced.

I will make sure that we retain your contact details and keep you updated of any progress which will also give you the opportunity to be included in the consultation on any fully worked proposals that may come from our study.

Yours faithfully

 

Cllr Karen Shakespeare
Halesowen North Ward Councillor
Cabinet Member for the Environment & Culture

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Offline David E

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #128 on: January 26, 2009, 05:52:20 PM »
Thanks for this Stephen.

Quote from: Cllr Karen Shakespeare
I see this very much as an opportunity to enhance and improve the services provided to visitors and glass enthusiasts, set in the context of how the traditional glass was produced and I want to be certain that this can be achieved before any decisions are taken.

Enhance and improve? How can she possibly come to this conclusion? Shoe-horning the existing museum into [perhaps] a quarter of the space is hardly what I would call an improvement... this is a denegration of the service, pure and simple.

I will be writing to Cllr. Shakespeare about this.
David
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Offline sph@ngw

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Re: Broadfield House to Close
« Reply #129 on: January 26, 2009, 06:16:50 PM »
OOOps sorry Graham to repeat the letter, you beat me to the keyboard and I did not scroll right through all seven pages!
Regards, Stephen.

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