Flagship Theatre for the Highlands!

[Cattach]

Bill Fernie thinks Eden Court will be a Flagship Theatre for the Highlands. Yes for Inverness area and at the expense of the far north. We cannot find a suitable venue in Thurso for a half decent sized arts and cultural event and the Assembly Rooms is hardly up to modern standards.
The vast majority in Caithness agree with recent comments regarding the excessive expense on Eden Court. I guess our local councillor might not have been totally against those comments if he had not been lined up for his new high profile post within the council!

[brokencross]

Excuse me, could you expand on your comments, especially the implied dig at "our local councillor".

[concerned resident]

Cattach - Yes i agree, it is at the exspense of the north, we could do with a venue here in the north, instead of holding large events in a Horse establishment in Halkirk. We appear to have very little say in what happens now in the north, We are ruled from Inverness.

[MileHigh]

Yes have to agree with you there. The 3 Million that the Highland Council put in can you Imagine how far that could of gone on the Assembly Rooms. The place has not changed in years it is so dated the facilities are falling apart but that is not taken into account on the prices they charge for hire they keep going up in line with Inverness. Come on local councillors wake up and start speaking up for Improvments to the Assembly Rooms !

[TRUCKER]

Yes it is about time the council starts spending money in caithness Inverness gets everything the next big project will be the inverness bypass.

[Tony]

Now that the viewfirth in Thurso has gone the debate can start as to what replaces it. If the demand for sport facilities is great then maybe this is an option that will flourish.

[Bobinovich]

I was just having a debate this evening that, in the last wee while, Thurso has lost 5 'venues' of varying sizes. The Viewfirth had The Barn, Sports Bar & Main Hall, the Town Hall had the Assembly Rooms and the Main Hall.

Between them they provided meeting places, training spaces, birthday bashes, gala crashes, coffee mornings and everything in between! Because of these, many groups have found it difficult to relocate - having to scrabble around to find other suitable premises.

I believe that the old tennis court and putting green (which face it are only available for a very restricted period at the height of summer and are redundant for the remainder of the year) could be put to much better use and would still be central enough to provide, if redeveloped correctly, suitable replacements for these types of venue. A decent sized hall plus a building with smaller hall/meeting rooms similar to the attached (yes I do have too much time on my hands!!!)

http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/Development.jpg

[Cattach]

I was just having a debate this evening that, in the last wee while, Thurso has lost 5 'venues' of varying sizes. The Viewfirth had The Barn, Sports Bar & Main Hall, the Town Hall had the Assembly Rooms and the Main Hall.

Between them they provided meeting places, training spaces, birthday bashes, gala crashes, coffee mornings and everything in between! Because of these, many groups have found it difficult to relocate - having to scrabble around to find other suitable premises.

I believe that the old tennis court and putting green (which face it are only available for a very restricted period at the height of summer and are redundant for the remainder of the year) could be put to much better use and would still be central enough to provide, if redeveloped correctly, suitable replacements for these types of venue. A decent sized hall plus a building with smaller hall/meeting rooms similar to the attached (yes I do have too much time on my hands!!!)

http://www.caithnesshost.co.uk/Development.jpg

Cannot argue with much of this though I think they missed the boat when they klet Graham beggs byuilding go to a number of different businesses. great place for events. Remember the mtor shows and ideal homes exhibitions there. Bit of work on the roof and it would have made a great sports hall, seeing could easily be putin for concerts, moveable partitins if necessary and there was a cafew area and a large stor and dispatch area. that could have been split up into small meeting rooms.
Yes the council missed the boast as usual.

As for the Beach Road area - it is a disgrace. We have tennis courts and they have not even put the white lines back on. hardly a big expense. They have taken away the putting green. OK seasonal but if we are to expect tourists to stop and spend money in Thurso we must offer them something. The boating area, especially the fun area, at the river is even worse. Just look at the Grand job at Rosebank, Wick - where are the Thurso councillors. The new lot made many promises but they have been posted missing since the canvassing except for the odd picture in the library or somewhere similar handing over a prize for a junior competition. For their own gratification rather than any help to the community at large.