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. FEARS ARE GROWING that Glasgow’s l rnarn annual arts festrval wrll be l underrnrhed by the frerce battle for fundrng rn the (rty l/layfest launches rts 1997 programme on t Aprrl, but because of councrl cuts, one of rts foundrrtg prrncrples cotrld be corrr:;»rr,-:rr:s-g-:l ix! rssrnts ments rn cornrnunttres lrke and are lb'.’ I’trganrsers as the bac khone l:ut ’D'tl,’ a

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Fw-str.rtl orgar‘rsers and cornmunrty arts rrffrcers aiross the crty are worrred

c;‘.'er :rossrhle closures of communrty l '.‘.'hr-:h could lead to a last

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Salt; Elet'her, a spokesperson for l/ltrvtrrrst, Md The l.rst that she arrtmptteu the worst for many

c'.'r‘-rnt.'.'t!tf.r arts projects, and sard the

James Kelman

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; Mayfest fear cuts will strike K _

spectre of councrl cuts had made plannrng the festrval a nrghtmare

‘Closures could be announced as late as one week before Mayfest begrns,' Fletcher sard, 'We have had to go ahead and prrnt the programme lrstrng all of the orrgrnal venues

'To cover all eventualrtres we’ve had to rnclude a drsclarrner We are askrng people to look out for flyers all over town whrch wrll keep everyone rn touch WIIlt cancellatrons and changes.’

Fletcher belreves the arts are berng rnargrnalrsed by the authorrtres, and sard' 'The srtuatron rs a d:saster for scores of Glaswegrans for whom Mayfest rs one of the only opportunrtres they get to experrenc‘e theatre and art’ At the East End Arts Centre rn Sprrngborg, speculatron over cloSure has already led to the area's Mayfest programme berng scaled down and transferred to an alternatrve, though less approprrate, venue

Angela Hogg, arts offrcer for the

HlGH-PROFILE DEVELOPMENTS are rn the prpelrne for Glasgow crty centre as planners arm to reverse the flow away from the crty towards out of town developments

The owners of exclusrve department store Selfrrdges are expected to lodge proposals for Glasgow premrses wrth the crty councrl shortly, whrle the glamorous rnternatronal restaurant charn Planet Hollywood rs hotly trpped to he the centreprece rn a separate rlcwelopment

Crty planners are anxrous that the openrng of huge out of tog‘xn rnultrplex crnemas such as that at C oathrrdoe, and Glasgovns Sprrngfreid Quay lwhrch falls outsrde the crty centrer could lead to an exodus, tlamagrng the crty's nrght irfe

'The problem :s that unless we move fast there are not gorng to be any crnerrras rrt the crty centre,’ sard Donald Bennett, Head of Desrgn and Crty Centre for Glasgow Crty Counc rl

Scots band in capyrightrow

s, CTTESH BAND Adventures lrr Sterec: :.'~:- i'tr‘eatc‘lnrng legal act‘on to prevent an unautnorrsed album tr-erng produced an! tirstrr't)t;terf

The hand, .'.ho released therr debut arr Creepzrtg Bent records rn January, the Logus CD been put tooether ‘.‘.’Itl‘.(>tll therr pernrrssron

It rs understood that the album eprhyrnously trtled, lrke the legrtrmate rlrsc rs made up of unreleased derno trac ks by Sprrea X, a preyrous project by Adventures lr: Stereos Jrrr: Beattre and Jutlrth Boyle They were recorded rrr the early 1990s but some may have been ';:‘.'en new hac krnr; ra-: ks Wrrter-proclucer )rrn Beattre explarned that he supported :ndepe'vlent labels ivy-cause they allot

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In the balance: East End Youth Theatre at one of the threatened venues

centre, sard even though a closure had not been confrrmed, the people of Sprrngborg are brtterly drsappornted wrth the enforced move.

’I’ve been workrng rn the centre for four years,’ Hogg sard. ’I had frnally got a lot of locals rnterested and excrted abocrt the arts and Mayfest. The

prospect of closure rs a blow to the communrty’s morale and has drscouraged many locals, putting us back to square one.’

A spokesman for Glasgow City CounCII declrned to comment on the SUDJGCI of communrty centre closures. (Lrndsay McGarvre)

He pornted out that whrle there are currently two smaller c‘rnema charns operatrng rn the centre, competrtron would make rt drffrc‘ult for them to contrnue 'Glasgow can only support so many brg crnemas.'

Selfrrclges, whose parent group Sears now own the Buchanan Hotel at the top of Buchanan Street, w0uld be a welcome addrtron to the area, helprng complete the streets redevelopment from top to bottom

Wrth the Buchanan Gallerres, currently under constructron north of the Royal Concert Hall, clue to open rn the mrddle of next year, the whole area rs irker to rec erve a facelrft

’From the rrver Clyde all the way up Buchanan Street, we hope to have a major upgradrng,’ sard Bennett 'There should be new street furnrture and better lrtrhtrng’

Ho's/ever, wrth the crty c’ounc‘rl so short of cash, the £10m cost would have to be fourth front outsrde sources

songxzvuters should have complete ;r)ntrr,r| over all the materral they release,‘ he sard ’l urge any Adventures in Stereo fan not to be rnrsled rnto huyrng thrs materral, whrc'h rs not the genurne work of the group’

Douglas McIntyre, drrector of Creeprng Bent, sard the band had not been contacted for permISSIon by the London-based label promotrng the bogus releases They had only become arc/are of rt when contacted by an alert clrstr'rbutor rn Germany who had been offered the album

‘Thrs rs an attempt to cash rn on the group’s success by some person who has access to old Sprrea X recordrngs,' sard :’.lc!ntyre, who rnsrsth Creeprng Jrent defend the band's :opyrrght 'Stephen Naysmrthr

'°«wtrl’l

S Big names—bid to revitalise Glasgow

such as the Natronal Lottery or grants from the European Development fund.

Meanwhrle, a major lersure development wrll take place on the area to the east of the St Enoch Shopprng centre, currently rn use as a car park. Three brds are being consrdered by the Glasgow Development Agency, but rt rs a badly- kept secret that the preferred brd is from Scotlancl’s lvlrller Group.

It rs rumoured that rn addrtron to the rnultrplex crnema, therr £70m plan wrll rnclude the Planet Hollywood restaurant as well as bars, a nrghtclub and ten-pm bowlrng

Planet Hollywood, wrth movre- orrentatecl decor and menus, has been a brg hrt rn several major US and European crtres and branches have been known to recerve surprrse vrSIts from star owners rncludrng Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce erlrs and Dernr Moore. (Stephen Naysmrth)

COLIN DUNSMUlR

Jim Beattie: autonomous