New Culture Quarter

Kingston Conservatives will create a new Cultural Quarter in Kingston Town Centre if elected on the 6th May.

 
The area to be designated as the Cultural Quarter will embrace the start of the High Street to the West, the River Thames to the North, St James/ Union Street to the South and Clarence Street to the East.
 
The Cultural Quarter will bring together the Rose Theatre, All Saints Church, The Coronation Stone, the Ancient Market. Charter Quay and The Guildhall Complex together. We will then work with landowners to develop further cultural uses. These may include specialist shopping, a new hotel, venues for Visual Arts, performance of music as well as further growth in new restaurants.

The Conservative Group will look to relocating the Central Library, Kingston Museum, and the Kingston Art Gallery in the Guildhall Complex and returning our Borough Archive back from the North Kingston Centre to central Kingston along with new facilities for the Voluntary Sector and Adult Education. We would also like to consider moving the Registry Office from Norbiton, so couples can to be married in the heart of Kingston Town. While no location has been identified, the need to bring services together will be part of the Conservative Group’s drive to reduce costs but improve the quality of facilities and services available to residents. The relocation costs would be covered by the rationalisation of the space currently used.

The Conservative Group believe that the Cultural Quarter will help further build a critical mass of cultural and night-time activity to enable the theatre to grow commercially stronger and stand artistically and commercially independent in a new and vibrant heart of all our cultural activities through out the year

Howard Jones, Leader of Kingston Conservatives said “The Cultural Quarter will help build and strengthen the cultural and night time economy around the Rose Theatre and go some way to helping the theatre increase in popularity. The Council needs to bring our cultural services together. We know that officers would welcome this investment and it will provide space to move other complimentary services together. This is a positive and Imaginative way to bring together all our cultural activities; it will increase access for our residents; and create a true Community Hub for the whole Borough.“
 
Ends.
For further information please contact Howard Jones on 07768 617857 or Nick Kilby on 07753 787358