Noticeboard NewsGossipOpinion The Royal High School on Calton Hill Edinburgh is to be transformed into a £35m arts hotel
School’s out New purpose for Calton Hill building while other projects are overlooked Words: Anna Millar
F ollowing months of speculation it has been revealed that the former Royal High School on Edinburgh’s Calton Hill will be transformed into an arts hotel. The £35m redevelopment, awarded by the city council to Duddingston House Properties, will mean the space is brought back into public use for the first time in forty years as a contemporary hotel, complete with restaurant, cafe and gallery.
The plans have been met with mixed response. While council heads are calling the move a success, some feel the idea simply doesn’t live up to the iconic building’s potential. Many were backing a campaign to transform the area into a national photography centre, while others are concerned that Duddingston House Properties will have their plans beset by delays, as occured with another of their high profile projects, the former Odeon cinema in the city’s
southside. Duddingston bought the cinema six years ago, but the B-listed building has been boarded up since 2003. The last year has seen a series of petitions to have the venue re-opened. Filmmaker Sana Bilgrami who has publically petitioned for the Odeon to be re-opened as a public space told The List of her disappointment over the decision to give this latest project to the same team. ‘I’m sorely disappointed to hear that Edinburgh’s former Royal High School has been leased to DHP. It’s nauseating that the Council is encouraging them to convert the Royal High, a uniquely iconic A-listed building, into yet another “art” hotel, rather than supporting plans for the Hill Adamson Photography Centre, which would have been a national cultural centre of international significance.’
The debate continues.
POET LAUREATE RALLIES COLLEAGUES FOR HAITI ■ Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has announced plans to lead a cluster of poets and writers in a bid to raise money for the Haiti earthquake disaster appeal. Duffy and fellow Scot Don Paterson have organised a one-off event, at which the pair will read alongside Alasdair Gray, Douglas Dunn, Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie, Sean O’Brien, Liz Lochhead, Ron Butlin and Gillian Clarke, with all proceeds going to
charity. The event will take place at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 28 Feb with tickets available now from the Queen’s Hall Box Office (0131 668 2019, www.thequeenshall.net). Duffy said of the evening: ‘Poetry has the power of prayer and is the place in language where we are most human. The people of Haiti need our humanity right now.’ Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, added his support describing Carol Ann Duffy as a ‘visionary humanitarian’.
5 Things. . . WORST BEST PICTURES In honour of Avatar – the worst ever Best Picture Oscar winners
1 Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
On-set sexual tension between stars Morgan Freeman and Jessica
Tandy was covered over on film by a sopping wet flannel of sentimentality.
2 Braveheart (1995)
Gibson pillages history for his preferred narratives of underdog
heroism. As in all his work, no detectable hint of irony.
3 Titanic (1997) James Cameron
persuades Kate Winslet to reveal a nipple in tear-jerking, long, long
movie. Twelve years later he’s back pedaling more blue people in peril.
4 Crash (2005) Ensemble cast broach middle class society’s latent prejudices *yawn*.
Infinitely inferior to David Cronenberg’s 1996 fetish sex epic of the same name.
5 Slumdog Millionaire
(2008) Anglo-centric peek into slum life, with lots of exploitative
rubbernecking and misguided wonder. No wonder the Academy loved it. WWW.LIST.CO.UK Visit us daily for arts & entertainment news
NEW ARTS CHIEF FOR SCOTLAND Andrew Dixon, who leads the Newcastle Gateshead culture and tourism initiative, has been appointed chief executive of Creative Scotland, the new public body for the arts. Despite ongoing concerns about the proposed merger of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen The List welcomes the appointment of an exciting figurehead to the CS role. 18 Feb–4 Mar 2010 THE LIST 7