At least there are no plans to close our libraries. That much we heard at the presentation last night for the town council about the relocation of the archive. Whereas some authorities are closing some of their libraries, town councillors were told that each of Denbighshire's eight will play a part in linking to the new Yr Wyddgrug/Mold-based central archive on a "hub-and-spoke" principle. Some good news, then, if this helps safeguard a valuable public service, our library, while extending the appeal of another, the archive.
The architects of the proposal were able to reassure town councillors that there were other benefits for archive researchers, not least in a larger pool of staff, extended opening and more space to receive & store materials. Denbighshire would have access to Flintshire's conservation archivists.
We also heard that the number of people visiting Denbighshire's archive last year was 792. Just 792? That is not a lot of people, not at all. In fact, the number is so low, you have to wonder why Denbighshire opens three days a week and employs four staff—although, it must be said, this is a statutory service, so it seems. About half the visitors are Denbighshire residents and we would assume that their economic impact on the town was minimal. The other half, potentially, could contribute more to Rhuthun/Ruthin's economy but, even so, the number equates to barely one a day (or only 2½ per opening day).
It would nevertheless be nice to think that Denbighshire has undertaken an economic impact assessment of the closure of the archive on our town.
We also learnt that the Old Gaol has just 11,000 visitors p.a. which itself is also a low figure. The archive takes up 70 per cent of the gaol's space. So, there'll be a challenge to fill the gaol and to make it economical. There's talk of stored artifacts that could now be displayed. One way of improving visitor footfall would be to enter a partnership between the Gaol and Nantclwyd y Dre with the National Trust. Last night, this was seriously mentioned, even though when this was considered 20 years ago (and since) it came to naught. We would question whether the NT would be interested. They have enough on their plate and we know recent overtures have failed. A third partner was cited as the town council's Old Courthouse and, since town councillors had only heard of this yesterday evening, there was a certain phony indignation, even though the three together made sense.
The issue remains that one council, our town council, has almost finished its restoration of the Old Courthouse, yet its larger neighbour threatens the future of the Old Gaol. If the Gaol becomes 70 per cent empty, how sustainable is it?
The town council took a vote. 14 objected to the closure of the archive, with one abstention (Ian Lewney). Opposition was therefore near enough unanimous. But what about ordinary Ruthinians? Given that few of us actually bother to go to the archive, perhaps it simply won't matter. But, when you consider the arbitrary way in which the former Clwyd archive was split, stitching most of it back together in a purpose-built, state of the art building with staff aplenty and better opening hours is no bad thing. It is certainly a shame that Rhuthun will miss out on a multi-million-pound investment. Mayor Gavin Harris, an architect, had a sketch plan of how it could fit in and around the existing Gaol. Denbighshire officers said that this wouldn't be possible and couldn't be done (especially during the once-in-a-decade funding window, now emerging). If not Rhuthun, then it is probably better near Yr Wyddgrug than in some desolate corrugated shed only accessible by car and at the back end of some forlorn industrial estate where facilities are few. We're aware that "forlorn" could easily capture the Yr Wyddgrug county hall campus but at least the area near Theatr Clwyd could now be improved.
We also heard that the number of people visiting Denbighshire's archive last year was 792. Just 792? That is not a lot of people, not at all. In fact, the number is so low, you have to wonder why Denbighshire opens three days a week and employs four staff—although, it must be said, this is a statutory service, so it seems. About half the visitors are Denbighshire residents and we would assume that their economic impact on the town was minimal. The other half, potentially, could contribute more to Rhuthun/Ruthin's economy but, even so, the number equates to barely one a day (or only 2½ per opening day).
It would nevertheless be nice to think that Denbighshire has undertaken an economic impact assessment of the closure of the archive on our town.
We also learnt that the Old Gaol has just 11,000 visitors p.a. which itself is also a low figure. The archive takes up 70 per cent of the gaol's space. So, there'll be a challenge to fill the gaol and to make it economical. There's talk of stored artifacts that could now be displayed. One way of improving visitor footfall would be to enter a partnership between the Gaol and Nantclwyd y Dre with the National Trust. Last night, this was seriously mentioned, even though when this was considered 20 years ago (and since) it came to naught. We would question whether the NT would be interested. They have enough on their plate and we know recent overtures have failed. A third partner was cited as the town council's Old Courthouse and, since town councillors had only heard of this yesterday evening, there was a certain phony indignation, even though the three together made sense.
The issue remains that one council, our town council, has almost finished its restoration of the Old Courthouse, yet its larger neighbour threatens the future of the Old Gaol. If the Gaol becomes 70 per cent empty, how sustainable is it?
The town council took a vote. 14 objected to the closure of the archive, with one abstention (Ian Lewney). Opposition was therefore near enough unanimous. But what about ordinary Ruthinians? Given that few of us actually bother to go to the archive, perhaps it simply won't matter. But, when you consider the arbitrary way in which the former Clwyd archive was split, stitching most of it back together in a purpose-built, state of the art building with staff aplenty and better opening hours is no bad thing. It is certainly a shame that Rhuthun will miss out on a multi-million-pound investment. Mayor Gavin Harris, an architect, had a sketch plan of how it could fit in and around the existing Gaol. Denbighshire officers said that this wouldn't be possible and couldn't be done (especially during the once-in-a-decade funding window, now emerging). If not Rhuthun, then it is probably better near Yr Wyddgrug than in some desolate corrugated shed only accessible by car and at the back end of some forlorn industrial estate where facilities are few. We're aware that "forlorn" could easily capture the Yr Wyddgrug county hall campus but at least the area near Theatr Clwyd could now be improved.