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Those opposed to the facelift believe it could affect the history and fibre of what the Assembly Rooms stand for
Curtain down?
It’s a war of words as the Assembly Rooms prepares for a multi-million pound facelift
T his fortnight Edinburgh City Council granted the green light for a controversial £9.5m refurb to go ahead at the city’s iconic Assembly Rooms. Plans are afoot for the landmark building and popular Fringe venue to close its doors for 18 months as part of council plans to convert the ground floor into a boutique and restaurant space. The decision has been met with anger by Assembly Theatre, whose hierarchy believes the facelift will change the very fibre of what the space represents for Fringe-goers. As The List goes to press, the controversy is far from over. We bring you, in quotes, the story so far:
‘Everyone knows what the propaganda is. The claim is simple: “We cannot keep it running unless the shops in the plans pay for it.” That is one of the most simple- minded entrepreneurial ideas ever. It’s a lazy, typical council sort of method of dealing with things.’ Facebook, Save the Assembly Rooms campaign
‘You look at the damaged cities around here. You
don’t need another shopping mall.’ Actor Brian Cox
‘We look forward to all parties finding a solution that ensures that best possible outcome for all users of the building and which sees a refurbished Assembly
Rooms continuing to host exciting and entertaining work for the audiences of the Fringe.’ Fringe chief executive, Kath Mainland ‘We advocate respecting the Assembly Rooms’ history and building on what people know works in the building, not throwing the baby out with the bathwater to create shops with limited public purpose or appeal.’ William Burdett-Coutts, artistic director of Assembly Theatre
‘We’ve already had serious interest from promoters who want to take the building on during Festival time once the refurbishment is complete, and we’re confident there will be very healthy industry competition for this much-sought-after Festival address.’ Councillor Steve Cardownie ‘It’s true that Assembly Theatre Ltd’s previous three- week usage of the building’s ground floor during the summer festivals period will be affected by our plans, as we will be restoring these parts . . . This is essential if we are to finance the vital structural repairs to the principal events spaces upstairs, including the Music Room and the Ballroom.’ Edinburgh’s culture head, councillor Deidre Brock
NewsExtra T IN THE PARK HEADLINER ANNOUNCED
■ As Scotland’s winter reaches maximum chill factor, it’s with no small amount of excitement that we throw a serious high five in the direction of some summer celebrations. This fortnight we’re connecting with the kindly souls at T
in the Park who have announced the mighty Foo Fighters as next July’s headliners. The announcement comes in the wake of TiTP chieftain Geoff Ellis picking up the Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Festivals Award: ‘As well as being a personal favourite and a band that T in the Park fans continually praise, Foo Fighters are one of the best festival headliners on the planet,’ said Ellis.
5 Things. . . PARTY GAMES The best board and computer games for Xmas
1 Disney Sing It Karaoke classics for the whole family with the launch of Disney Sing It Family
Hits and Disney Sing It Party Hits. RRP £39.99 (with mic) £24.99 (just game) On Wii and PS3.
2 Pointless Try and score the
least points possible as Alexander Armstrong’s BBC gameshow comes to your living room with Pointless. RRP of £19.99. Sold at Debenhams, Toys R Us, WHSmith and Amazon.
3 Kinect Top of most gamers’
wishlists it’s the Kinect system for Xbox 360, where you
use your body as the controller. RRP £129.99, available at all electronics retailers.
4 Monty Python’s Really Silly
Board Game Inspired lunacy as you travel around the board
collecting spam. RRP £19.99 available form Debenhams and Menkind.
5 Truth or Lies A unique take on truth or dare with a microphone and specialist voice
detection software. RRP £19.99 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. WWW.LIST.CO.UK Visit us daily for arts & entertainment news
PHILIPSZ TAKES TURNER PRIZE Here at List Towers we love to support homegrown (or in this case Scottish- born) talent, so we’d like to extend a massive congratulations to Glasgow-born and Berlin-based, Susan Philipsz on her Turner Prize win. Philipsz was nominated for the top art prize following the presentation of her work, Lowlands, at the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art this year. Check out our Hot 100 feature, page 33, for an interview with the lady herself.
16 Dec 2010 – 6 Jan 2011 THE LIST 7