'We'll give new art to landmark' (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

'We'll give new art to landmark'

1:16pm Monday 14th August 2006 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

One of Bradford's most prominent landmarks is to be sold to an Asian arts group. ASIAN EYE reports.

More than £1.6 million of debt is to be written off after contracts were exchanged to sell St Peter's House, Bradford.

The prestigious building in Forster Square, which once housed the failed £5m Life Force faith museum, has been sold by the Millennium Commission to the Kala Sangam South Asian arts company for £570,000.

The Commission took over the title of St Peter's House from Bradford Cathedral after the collapse within months of Life Force, which received a £2m lottery grant and sent the Cathedral to the equivalent of bankruptcy.

A spokesman for the Millennium Commission said: "In our annual accounts this year, we wrote off £1,654,369 of funds associated with the grant in the expectation that about £480,000 would be recovered from the sale.

"The Millennium Commission is pleased that a sale has been agreed which secures a public benefit use of the site and allows recovery of some of the lottery money spent on the original project."

Kala Sangam has been given a £1.5m award by Arts Council England to create a centre of excellence for South Asian and International Collaborative Arts.

The Grade II listed building, which is spread over three floors, will contain a multi-purpose performance space, workshop rooms, dance and music studios, gallery space and offices.

Kala Sangam's programmes manager Ajit Singh, said: "It has been a massive struggle and we have been talking about St Peter's House for about two years. It does not feel as though we have got it yet and it won't feel real until we have the keys in our hands."

Mr Singh said most of the money would be spent on repairs and there were no plans yet for major refurbishment.

Alan Dalton, the Council's interim assistant chief executive, said: "The Council has a 25-year lease of the ground floor of St Peter's House, which expires on April 1, 2025. We are discussing with Kala Sangam its proposals for the building."

Andy Carver, regional executive director for Arts Council England, Yorkshire, said: "Kala Sangam is a significant arts organisation for Bradford and for Yorkshire with a well-deserved reputation for high quality South Asian arts.

"It is great news that, with Lottery support through the Arts Council of £1.5 million, it can now go ahead and develop a new centre for South Asian arts at St Peter's House.

"This will enable them to take their exciting work forward into the future with great confidence." Geetha Upadhyaya, chief executive and artistic director of Kala Sangam, said: "This very significant first step for our company and the art world has been possible due to the Lottery support of the Arts Council as this will enable us to realise our vision of establishing a centre for south Asian arts."

The Dean of Bradford, the Very Reverend David Ison, said: "We look forward to Kala Sangam being our neighbours and to exploring how we can work together for the benefit of everyone in Bradford and beyond."