A Home for the Hub

Sunday, 27 March 2011 16:13

Things are moving forward fast to gain a home for the Hub, as the whole idea only started back in January. 129-131 Belle Vue Road (formerly Bradley’s Restaurant) is a privately owned property which was being offered for community use. The management company for the property were looking for ideas and proposals for how this could be achieved, so Cathy Jones contacted them with the idea of a Creative Hub to support arts and community arts in the area. They were interested and so Cathy went away and drew up a proper and detailed proposal document and the go ahead to pursue the idea was given soon afterwards. The idea was then floated by Cathy to the Southbourne-on-Sea Business Association and others, and very soon the word started spreading. This led to the first meeting on 24th March.

Now the next steps are being taken to set the Hub up as a registered not-for-profit company and the other things needed to “open the doors”.

So what will the Hub Home be like? The venue is about to be refurbished back to an open “blank canvas” space. Old stud partition walls and damaged flooring will be ripped out and a new, laminate floor put down. There will be a men’s toilet and a women’s toilet and a small preparation area for refreshments, all this being carried out by the owners and the management company. The open space is approximately 90 metres squared. It is all on ground floor level with no steps and there are double doors at the entrance and lots of windows to let in the light. There is a bus stop outside and public car park a few yards away.

As a “blank canvas” space the venue will be adaptable. It can be used for meetings, rehearsals, workshops and classes, open days and so on. The aim is to get some basic furniture but of the type that can be stacked away or collapsed so that it can either be in use or stored away easily and quickly. There will be a small admin corner of course which will also act as an information resource centre for professionals, and a notice board and leaflet dispensers for local arts activity and community information.

As well as the Hub being a network, an information exchange, and a much needed space for the arts, the Hub will also, in time, start to generate new community arts projects of its own.

The willingness on all sides is for this initiative to grow slowly and steadily with the clear aim of bringing advantages in the longer term to people who work in the creative industries, to the regeneration of this part of Southbourne-on-Sea, to businesses in the area, but most importantly to the community and the people who live here.

Rome, as they say, was not built in a day, but we have the foundation stones in place. There is every possibility that the doors could be open by early summer with a grand opening event to celebrate and let people know what is happening. Watch this space!