Jerwood Gallery

What is happening with Jerwood and the Stade?

Hastings Borough Council, East Sussex County Council and the Jerwood Foundation are working together to transform the beachfront Stade coach and lorry park into a fantastic new public space for events, festivals and informal use, alongside a nationally significant new art gallery and community facilities. This is an exciting vision that already has strong local support and will bring huge benefits to Hastings and St Leonards. It is supported by funding from all three key partners, the government’s ‘Sea Change’ programme, and from the south East Development Agency.

Who are the Jerwood Foundation?

The Jerwood Foundation is one of the leading private arts foundations and has invested in excess of £75m into the arts since 1991. See www.jerwood.org for more information.

Why does Jerwood want to build a gallery?

The Jerwood Foundation has built up a substantial collection of 20th and 21st century British art that has never before been shown to the public. It wants to build a £4m gallery to house this collection and to show temporary exhibitions as part of the Jerwood Visual Arts programme which supports and showcases the best emerging artists working in the UK. The Jerwood Foundation sees the arts as part of education in the widest sense, and wants to create a public facility that will benefit local communities and enable access to art and culture of the highest quality.

Why does Jerwood want to come to Hastings?

Jerwood wanted to site their new gallery in a regional centre that has deprived communities and is undergoing regeneration, in order that the benefit of the new gallery would be maximized. Jerwood also wanted to create links to a strong local arts community. Hastings has been chosen as Jerwood’s preferred location as it offers exceptional potential to meet these aims, and an inspirational site at the Stade.

Why the Stade and not some other site in Hastings?

Hastings Borough Council and many local people have felt for some time that a coach and lorry park is the wrong use for such an important historic site in the heart of the Old Town. The long-term vision of the council for a new public space at the Stade was an excellent fit with what Jerwood was looking for – a sympathetic central location, easily accessible on foot and by public transport. No other site offered such potential and, if the Stade were not progressed, Jerwood would go to another town, not another location in Hastings.

What else will happen on the site?

The gallery will only take up a small part of the site and the rest will be transformed into a fantastic new public space for events, new WCs, community café, and new community facilities in a purpose-built centre alongside the refurbished East Hastings Sea Angling Association. The new public space is as important as the gallery and will be designed to the highest standards. The project also includes redesigning the streets around the site to calm traffic, improve safety and provide wider pavements.

What will happen to the coaches?

Seven coach bays for setting down and picking up passengers will continue to be sited on the seafront in the Old Town, so there will be no loss of footfall. HastingsBorough Council and East Sussex County Council are creating additional coach parking elsewhere in the town, on Falaise Road  (where 21 spaces in total will be provided) and Sea Road (where 8 spaces will be provided).

How much will it cost and who is paying?

The Jerwood Foundation is covering all the costs of designing, building and running the art gallery in perpetuity. Hastings Borough Council has secured funding of £2m from the Sea Change fund run by central government alongside £650,000 from SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) and over £300,000 from East Sussex County Council to pay for the highways improvements. Hastings Borough Council is contributing £1.5m towards the capital cost of the project.

What do local people think?

The Stade project has been developed with extensive dialogue with the local community. The initial concept and masterplan options were exhibited in public in May 2008, advertised with a double page spread in the Hastings Observer, leaflets distributed throughout the Old Town, and on local radio. At this consultation, 89% of respondents supported the principle of locating the Jerwood Gallery on the Stade and 60% supported the masterplan option that has now been taken forward. Local groups including residents, fishermen, local businesses, the arts community, and many others have been involved in an Advisory Group on the project all the way through and have contributed to the plans. The final plans were exhibited again in March 2009 and again, 86% of comments received were supportive. The project is officially supported by many local groups ranging from the Chamber of Commerce to the Old Town Residents Association.

I’m not interested in art, how will this benefit people like me?

Independent research has estimated that this project will create over 100 jobs and generate around £10m per year in the local economy, so this will help the whole community. It will also create educational opportunities for our children and young people, and the new public space will enable events of all sorts, from festivals to markets, music performances, Bonfire and Jack-in-the-Green, as well as informal use by local families. Hastings is the second most deprived seaside resort in the country, and the most deprived town in the south east. It may look pretty, but the town does have problems, and this investment will really help to change this.

What will happen to the Seafood and Wine Festival?

The point of the project is to ensure that events like the Seafood and Wine Festival can continue by creating a purposely designed public space that can be used all year round for events.  This would include existing favourites such as the award-winning Seafood & Wine Festival, the Classic Car Show, and the ‘999′ event, and new events such a concerts, open air theatre, outdoor film shows, markets, perhaps even a Christmas market and ice-skating.

What about Tom’s Cabin?

The options in the public exhibition and consultation in May 2008 included both keeping and replacing Tom’s Cabin. However, the preferred option of those who responded, and also the preferred option of Hastings Borough Council, is to replace it with a high quality family café, with kitchens large enough to service the large open area we are creating too. This option also maximises the open space available, something most people were very keen to see.

What about the Fishing Beach?

Rumours that the Council want to build on the fishing beach are completely wrong and in fact, part of this project is to upgrade the facilities for the fishing fleet and community, including the Winch Road and parking. We have been working closely with the fishermen on this – the town’s fishing heritage is as important to visitors as it is to the people who work there, and there is absolutely no way the Council would want to destroy that.

Will the open space be open for ever?

Jerwood and Hastings Borough Council are keen to see the open space we are creating kept open, there is absolutely no intention now, or in the future, to build upon it. Indeed, this will be built into the legal agreement that will enable the site to be developed.

I thought the Foreshore Trust own the site. What do they think?

The Foreshore Trust own part of the site and are fully in favour of the proposals. They have been involved from the earliest stages and think that the project shows clear benefits for the local community and the fishing community.

Why will the gallery charge for admission? We thought it would be free.

Jerwood had indeed hoped that admission would be free. But they have now been advised that, like most public or charitable art galleries, they have to charge for entrance in order to recover VAT. However, Hastings residents will get reduced price admission, and all money collected from local residents will be used to help fund ‘outreach’ work to benefit the local community. Many well-known art galleries, including Tate St Ives, charge for entrance but are still much-loved by the local community who see significant benefits.

Will this project really happen?

The Jerwood Foundation has all its funding in place and is fully committed to the project. Hastings Borough Council is also fully committed and the project is fully funded. We regret that the planning applications have to be resubmitted due to a technical error but we are confident that this won’t affect our timescales. We all look forward to welcoming you to the Stade when works are complete in 2011!