Complex to shut as big projects end their reign in Spain Giles Tremlett
October 5, 2011 in Guardian
The Niemeyer centre, designed by 103-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, in the Spanish city of Aviles. Photo: Getty Images
An arts centre is the latest big-spend venture to run into trouble.
A DAZZLING €44 million ($A60.8 million) arts centre in the northern Spanish city of Aviles is to close after six months amid political squabbling as the country asks itself what to do with a glut of glittering new museums.
The Niemeyer centre, which was designed by the celebrated 103-year-old Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, was intended to have the same impact on the industrial Cantabrian sea port as the Guggenheim museum has had on Bilbao, 240 kilometres to the east.
As Spain tries to digest the museums and arts centres designed by world-famous architects during the boom years of public investment in culture of the past two decades, a new regional government has forced the centre to shut its doors for at least the next two months.
The last show, featuring a piece choreographed by flamenco dancer Maria Pages, will be on Saturday. Recent sellouts at the centre included Richard III directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey.
Several thousand people took to the streets on Sunday in a display of support for an arts centre that locals hoped would put the city on the global culture map. But the regional government of Asturias, which owns the buildings and part finances the centre, forced the closure, alleging ''serious irregularities'' in the accounts. ''Receipts and invoices needed to justify some of the spending are absent,'' said regional culture chief Emilio Marcos, who alleged that too much had been spent on hotels, trips and restaurants.
Administrators said they were ''shocked and perplexed'' by the accusations, claiming the ''very modest'' €900,000 annual budget had been stretched a long way. ''It has transformed the city, multiplying the number of tourists by four and acting as a spur for the local economy,'' they said.
Although politicians say the Niemeyer will not become an empty white elephant, its name can be added to a growing list of ambitious publicly funded projects in Spain which have run into trouble. They include not only arts centres and museums, but also airports and high-speed railway stations planned during the bonanza period before Spain's economy slumped three years ago.
In Santiago de Compostela, two of the six buildings planned for a huge ''City of Culture'' costing €300 million have been postponed indefinitely.
And Huesca airport, built four years ago at a cost of €40 million to bring tourists to the northern province's ski resorts, received just four commercial passenger flights in the three months to August.
Only 60 passengers a day use the high-speed trains at the new AVE train station, 10 kilometres from the Madrid dormitory city of Guadalajara. Commuters say the service is too expensive and too far out of town.
Some projects have become burdens simply because they cost so much to maintain. The Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia recently highlighted a raft of small local theatres, libraries and other amenities that have closed because they are too expensive to run.
The Niemeyer brought in big names, though not always to do the things they are most famous for. Woody Allen came to play jazz, film director Julian Schnabel exhibited his Polaroids, and actor Jessica Lange has shown her photographs.
Critics claim that it has concentrated too much on celebrities, but the centre has proved a draw for locals and out-of-towners. Among those protesting on Sunday were hoteliers and restaurateurs, who see the Niemeyer as a key driver for local business.
''I believe the Niemeyer has become a first-class engine for the economy and we are not going to waste the things that give us wealth,'' mayoress Pilar Varela said.
GUARDIAN
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/complex-to-shut-as-big-projects-end-their-reign-in-spain-20111004-1l786.html#ixzz1Ztbmc6P8
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