In his profile of Southbank Centre's Chief Executive Elaine Bedell, Alex Lawsonuncovers the depth and inequality in the current funding crisis and lays bare the soaring costs facing the flagship arts complex.
When an array of Hollywood royalty, from Cillian Murphy to Margot Robbie, arrived at the Royal Festival Hall for this year’s Bafta film awards, they were unaware that it was not just that evening’s nominees who were feeling nervous.
“Our great fear was that Cate Blanchett would be stuck in a lift,” says Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Centre, who is responsible for the complex of cultural venues by the Thames in London. “We employed an engineer to be on site all weekend so that, no matter what happened, emergency supplies could be on hand. That is emergency patching and it’s very costly.”
Bedell believes that example underlines the difficulty she has in managing the 4.5-hectare site. She is lobbying government to pay half of the £50m required for urgent repairs, including to its dodgy lifts, leaking roofs and cracked paving.She is willing to bring out the begging bowl for donors too, if Westminster plays its part. However, to her dismay, no such funding was forthcoming in Jeremy Hunt’s budget last month (the National Theatre, next door, snared £26m)... Keep reading The Observer.
When an array of Hollywood royalty, from Cillian Murphy to Margot Robbie, arrived at the Royal Festival Hall for this year’s Bafta film awards, they were unaware that it was not just that evening’s nominees who were feeling nervous.
“Our great fear was that Cate Blanchett would be stuck in a lift,” says Elaine Bedell, chief executive of the Southbank Centre, who is responsible for the complex of cultural venues by the Thames in London. “We employed an engineer to be on site all weekend so that, no matter what happened, emergency supplies could be on hand. That is emergency patching and it’s very costly.”
Bedell believes that example underlines the difficulty she has in managing the 4.5-hectare site. She is lobbying government to pay half of the £50m required for urgent repairs, including to its dodgy lifts, leaking roofs and cracked paving.She is willing to bring out the begging bowl for donors too, if Westminster plays its part. However, to her dismay, no such funding was forthcoming in Jeremy Hunt’s budget last month (the National Theatre, next door, snared £26m)... Keep reading The Observer.