SHOPPERS in Cardiff city centre have been given the first glimpse of the controversial £250,000 makeover of St David’s Hall.
The front of the concert venue has been covered in 3m-tall glass fins emblazoned with the auditorium’s red logo. When the work is complete, the fins will be lit up with multi-coloured lights at night to give the loss-making hall a higher profile.
Richard Foley, a Conservative councillor on the city’s planning committee, who objected to the proposal, said the fins were as tacky as he had feared.
He said: “I was walking past there and there were people staring at it. It might have been the big, flashing screen but I think they were looking in horror at the fins.
“It looks so tacky, cheap and awful. I still think that the building looked better before. It just doesn’t do the building justice. If they wanted to invest in the building there were far better ways to do it than to erect glass panels.”
And Coun Foley had even stronger words of criticism for the work.
He said: “What they wanted to do is draw attention to St David’s Hall but there are better ways to do it. It’s like drawing attention to yourself by walking down the road naked. The flash, gaudy stuff isn’t the best way to do it.”
St David’s Hall was completed in 1982, designed by architects Seymour Harris Partnership, and is one of the few major 1980s buildings in the city centre. It was officially opened on February 15, 1983, by the Queen Mother.
Its 2,000-seat auditorium hosts regular gigs and comedy performances.
Cardiff council subsidises the hall and the council-owned New Theatre with nearly £3m in public money every year and said it wanted to freshen up the building when it launched the planning application last year. Officers said the “proposed glass fins will present a modern appearance to an otherwise tired looking facade which will complement the previously installed big screen and tie in with the modern facade of the St David’s 2 development.”
A council spokeswoman said the work would be completed later this month, and added: “The cost of the improvements has been met by a contribution from the St David’s Partnership. The new development will give St David’s Hall a contemporary appearance and tie in with the modern façade of St David’s and The Hayes.”
