The future of St David's Hall in Cardiff — host to the 1986 and 1992 European Brass Band Championships as well as the renowned BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, is likely to be decided later this month.
Owner, Cardiff County Council, has announced that a decision will be made on 15th December — one that could see it taken over by the international promotional company Live Nation/AMG to become its latest O2 Academy Pop Music venue.
Undeniable need
According to a recent BBC news report Cardiff County Council said that there was "an undeniable need"for investment in the 2,000 seat venue — a figure reportedly varying between £5million and over £55million in maintenance costs alone according to different sources.
The hall receives a subsidy of around £700,000 and operates a small profit. In 2016 it was voted as one of the top 10 'best sounding' concert halls in the world, alongside the Musikverein in Austria, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Konzerthaus in Berlin. The only other hall in the UK in the top 10 was Symphony Hall in Birmingham.
If agreed, it is understood that the venue will undergo extensive refurbishment changes — including the removal of all current stall seating to enable capacity to be increased to around 2500 with the use of removeable seating fixtures.
Situated in the heart of the Welsh capital, St David's Hall is the National Concert Hall & Conference Centre of Wales. Opened in 1983 at a cost of £12million it is also home to the annual Welsh Proms Cardiff, an established classical concert series and a busy schedule of popular attractions and community events.
At present no indication has been given about how the venue could be used for future classical music or community concerts and promotions, or if a budget will be identified to help promote such events at other venues in the city.
At present no indication has been given about how the venue could be used for future classical music or community concerts and promotions, or if a budget will be identified to help promote such events at other venues in the city4BR
Petition
A petition to 'Save the National Concert Hall of Wales' was recently launched with over 17,100 having signed it to date.
It is understood that there will be an Extraordinary Meeting of the Council on Friday 9th December (4.30pm) at City Hall Cardiff, called by the Shadow member for Culture, Parks & Events to try to debate the issue before it goes to Cabinet for a decision on 15th December.
