A PUBLIC meeting has been called in a last-ditch attempt to save Grimsby's Central Hall.
Trustees will welcome locals to the make-or-break summit to potentially seal the venue's fate once and for all, on Monday, November 3.
As reported, users and groups have reacted in shock to last month's announcement that the historic building will cease to operate as an arts and music stable in April 2015 unless someone steps forward to take it over.
The Central Hall Trust, which has run the hall for the past 22 years, gave formal notice that it cannot continue to run the facility, in Duncombe Street, which has previously been graced by the likes of the Halle Orchestra and Iron Maiden.
Chair of trustees Richard Bradley said: "By our calculations, we would cease to operate as an arts and music venue by the end of April next year.
"However, various members of the public and groups who use the building have been lobbying in recent weeks and we are aware that they would like to see the Central Hall sustained for its current use.
"So we have decided to give everybody a chance to have their say in a public meeting in the main hall; it's open to anybody who wants to make a positive contribution as to how the hall can continue."
At the meeting, the trust will be submitting detailed information about the situation as it stands, giving their recommendations on a way forward before taking opinions from the floor.
Mr Bradley added: "There are a few key elements to the future of the venue; we are in desperate need of some more trustees who have the right professional background to help voluntarily run a place like the Central Hall.
"We have been losing money per month for the last two years and there is no secret that our balance sheet shows that we lost £25,000 last year; the building needs some capital to bring it up to the required standard as we often get comments about the dated lighting and equipment, we just need the money to do it.
"It will also need a much bigger marketing push to bring more people and that may address the fact that we have been losing money recently."
Mr Bradley truly feels that the venue is worth saving, having an association with the building since the age of seven but accepts how changes in society and the economy may have contributed to the current predicament.
He added: "When we took over the running of the Central Hall 22 years ago, with Roy Kemp, it was our agreement to keep it going for four years, at which time the Grimsby Auditorium was going to be the main arts venue.
"But pressure came on us from various groups to keep it afloat, so we've actually done very well to last this long. It is sad that times have brought us back to where we were all those years ago.
"We're looking for a younger generation to take it over; if they value the Central Hall then we hope they will show that it's worthwhile keeping it open."
The main hall holds a 677 capacity audience but the venue costs around £100,000 just to keep the doors open and that is before any attention can be paid to the decor or internal equipment.
What was originally set up as a classical music venue has diversified over the years to the point where Michael Jackson impersonator Navi will play a live show there on Saturday, October 25, from 8pm.
The day before, the Orpheus Male Voice Choir will present a concert with Trinity College Cambridge's scholar Cameron Richardson-Eames on October 24.
But before all of that, the Grimsby Philharmonic Society and Grimsby Bach Choir will present JS Bach's Mass in B Minor this Saturday.
One way the public can show their support and get behind the audience-friendly Central Hall surely is to make these three events a sell-out, pack the main hall to the rafters and keep this historic venue alive.
In local terms the ticket prices are "quite reasonable", according to Mr Bradley, and in national terms they're "ridiculously cheap".
The public meeting will take place at the Grimsby Central Hall on Monday, November 3, at 6.30pm.
