A new £12 million civic theatre in Derry, intended as a showpiece millennium project, has run into strong opposition because it is beside the historic walls in the heart of the city.
A section of the walls, a protected monument, collapsed some weeks ago as contractors prepared the site for the new Millennium Theatre. Opposition has now been voiced by people across a wide political spectrum, including one of the original members of the SDLP, the Apprentice Boys and an Irish-language activist.
The theatre promises to be an impressive building with a 1,000seat auditorium, a covered piazza to be called the Millennium-Square with cafes and bars inside, and a number of larger retail units fronting the street.
The large complex will fit, with very little room to spare, into the East Wall site just off Shipquay Street, between two major shopping centres, the Richmond and Foyleside. One side of the theatre will be within three metres of the historic walls, which at this section serve as a walkway.
Derry City Council has been the driving force behind the project, and Ms Annie Courtney, an SDLP member of the council, is chairwoman of the Derry Theatre Trust. She said this week that despite the opposition the theatre must go ahead as planned. "At this stage, it will either go there or it will not go anywhere," she said.
There is considerable opposition to the East Wall site. In a phone-in poll conducted by the Derry Journal, 84 per cent of more than 2,000 people were against it. Ms Courtney said the site was chosen after wide consultation, and with economic considerations in mind.
She said the people of Derry had been trying for the past 25 years to get a civic theatre, but the money was never available. The Millennium Fund provided a new opportunity. After securing £3 million sterling from a US trust, the Millennium Fund agreed to contribute £4.8 million sterling. A number of state agencies in the North also contributed.
The advantage of the East Wall site, which is valued at £1 million sterling, is that it was owned by the council and has been given free of charge to the Theatre Trust. The theatre's retail units in such a prime location will also bring in income.
"We hope these units will offset the running costs. It is very difficult to get entertainments to break even," Ms Courtney said.
Many people feel Derry should have followed Belfast's example where the Waterfront theatre was built away from the city centre near the docks. They say the riverside area of Derry could have been opened up in the same way.
The general secretary of the Apprentice Boys, Mr Billy Moore, said the choice of site was "idiotic" for a number of reasons.
"We felt that there were better sites available to put a theatre into. We believe the walls should be exposed as a tourist attraction, and to squeeze it in there, almost on top of them, spoils the look of the walls."
One of the original members of the SDLP, Mr Michael Canavan, has been leading the campaign against the East Wall site along with the Governor of the Apprentice Boys, Mr Alistair Simpson. Mr Canavan said the theatre project was "wreaking havoc on our national heritage". He is calling on the city council to halt the theatre even at this late stage.
Ms Courtney rejected suggestions that the public had not been consulted. She said the lobby against the theatre did not become active until the contractors went on to the site.
Planning permission was received only in November, and notices had been placed in local papers. Two objections were received and considered.
She said the council had backed the recommendation of a project team, which had comprised people from universities and the arts world. A proposal from a developer to build on a riverside site owned by him would have proved too expensive, and the theatre would not have been in public ownership, she said.
City-centre car-parks will open late to accommodate the theatre, and tests have been done to ensure lorries can access the site.
"We hope the theatre will bring people into the city who wouldn't normally go into the centre at night," she said.
A stonemason had "rebuilt by hand" the part of the walls which fell, and every effort was being made to ensure no further damage would be caused, Ms Courtney said. The new theatre will feature a glass wall allowing people inside to see the city walls from inside the building.