by Our Lord President, PBUH

Following on from Chelsea’s post – I just want to give everyone (especially those not on committee last year) a clear understanding of what is going on over summer and what stage we’re at now. Apologies for not doing this sooner but I’ve only just got to grips with it myself over the last few days. And apologies for those who know a lot about this but I’ll start from the beginning so everyone’s in the loop.

First of all, SMC stands for Space Management Committee. Basically over the last few months we have applied for two bids from this committee which is part of the university to get work done to our building. They review proposals from departments in the university and decide whether or not they think the proposal deserves the funding. We were successful with both bids – I’ve outlined each one separately below.

The first bid was to kit out our studio spaces. This is costing a total of £30,000. £15000 of this is being paid by SMC, £5000 by the SU and £10000 by Edgar Wallner (who donated this as part of the impact campaign). This bid has already been finalised by last year’s committee so we’re not in a position to change anything that this money is being spent on. With this money we’re getting the following:

• The room is being painted black
• Black-out blinds for the windows
• Curtains on a rail which can be pulled around the entire space
• Replacing both doors into the room
• Sprung Floor
• Mirrors on the far wall
• Full Lighting rig
• Tech equipment for the space – this is the only thing not fully confirmed. Will and other technical people will soon be told an amount they’ve been left with to spend on tech equipment for both studios.

• Re-painting black (sounds pointless but there’s a good reason apparently)
• Vinyl Floor
• Basic Lighting rig

So we’ll be left with a fully kitted out studio space in the white room (soon to be black) and a more basic rig, floor etc. in the black room but it will still be a great performance space.

The document that Chelsea posted has a rough outline of what we’ve asked for under SMC 2. This bid is for a total of £60000. (£30000 donated by Matthew Bannister as part of the impact campaign, £30000 from SMC.) Matthew Bannister donated his money to help us with our seating arrangements. Therefore most of his money is going on replacing our seating block in the auditorium and on the flexible seating solution (which is what the meeting was about the other day).

Again the seating block in the auditorium was decided by last year’s committee and has already been ordered – it will be installed early August (I’ve posted the plan for this). Basically they’re the same seats but with upholstered arms, more durable, and the front two rows are easily removable. This totals around £14,000.

• seating_block_-_auditorium_-_plan.pdf

This hasn’t been ordered yet but it was decided at the meeting on Tuesday that we’re going for Configuration 8 on the document I’m about to post. This would allow us to do every arrangement you could need in the auditorium and can also be used in the studios for performances in there. They’re basically staging blocks like we get from Hawthorn, but they’re much lighter and easier to move. Whenever we need them for a show, we’ll just ask estates to bring us as many chairs as we need. When not being used in the auditorium, there will be a few blocks in a permanent layout in each studio which will still leave ample space for rehearsing in there. The rest can be stored in the stage right wing. This totals around £10000.

• flexible_seating_proposal.pdf

This leaves the rest of the money to pay for everything else on the SMC 2 document Chelsea has posted. What we’ve asked for has changed only slightly – we’ve asked for a few more power outlets in the workshop and some electrical work to be done in the auditorium. The stage we’re currently at with this is that Kevin (the SMC Project Manager) is getting quotes for everything on that document apart from the seating. Once he’s got that he’ll get back to me with how much the quotes total. Either it will be more than we can afford – in which case I’ll let everyone know and we’ll need to decide which items we think we can manage without. Or it may be that the quotes total less than we can afford (unlikely!) in which case I’ll ask everyone what else we think we might want.

To sum up, we still have control over most of what we’re getting under SMC 2. When Kevin sends me plans of what he’s thinking of buying for specific items – I’ll send them to the relevant person and also Chelsea as she’s responsible for all fixtures in the building. For example, if Kevin knows what cupboards he’s thinking of getting for the costume cupboard – I’ll send the plans to Nicola and Chelsea to check they’re happy with them. So minor decisions about the TYPE of items Kevin has chosen and whether or not they’re suitable will be down to the relevant committee member, Theatre Manager and me. Regardless, I’ll make sure everyone is updated at every stage of the works. No major decisions will be made without everyone having their say unless Kevin demands an immediate answer on something – which is unlikely. The reason for not involving everyone in minor decisions is to simplify the process and because each person knows their department best. Estates are also used to one person making these small decisions – they can’t wait for us to check with all 17 committee members on such minor details.

If anyone has any questions at all please do ask. It’s important we are all fully involved in what’s going on with the SMC work. I know some may have felt out of the loop over the last few months so I will do everything I can to keep everyone updated.