Submit Response is a weblog by Jack Mottram, a New Plan for Tramway
A piece in The Herald today brings good-ish news on the fate of Tramway 2, as the Scottish Ballet revise their plans for the space:
The revamped design would include a custom-built facility at the rear of the main building for Scottish Ballet’s technical requirements, leaving the old tram shed, Tramway 2, as a publicly accessible space for visual artists and other performances.
This is, of course, better than using the space for storing props but still problematic. First, it remains unclear who would run this newly-proposed combined centre for ballet, visual art and performance. And, given their track record, we would need some pretty solid assurances that any space reserved for the visual arts would be safe from the vicissitudes of Scottish Ballet policy. It would be a shame to celebrate the survival of Tramway 2, only to find it earmarked for another purpose after a secret meeting in the shadowy corridors of the Scottish Ballet.
At best, then, this is a sign that the outcry against the original proposals has not been in vain, and that Scottish Ballet are becoming more open to finding a solution that will satisfy the needs of the visual arts and ballet communities. It is not, however, a satisfactory solution to the problem, which might easily have been avoided — stop me if you’ve heard this one before — had Scottish Ballet been willing to discuss their plans before submitting them to funding bodies and the relevant authorities.
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