Group calls on Newmarket residents to back art centre project
Campaigners behind an ambitious plan to create an arts centre in Newmarket are planning a public meeting to rally support for the project.
Louise Eatock, who is leading the team hoping to buy the former Palomino pub in Valley Way to house the new centre, said: “We passionately believe that the people of Newmarket deserve this project and that the town will greatly benefit from a permanent arts space to develop and promote engagement with the arts.”
The pub, which called last orders in October last year, has been on the market since then with an asking price in the region of £400,000.
Plans to demolish the building and replace it with six houses have been submitted to West Suffolk Council but it does date back to the so-called golden age of post war pub building and appears on a list of mid-20th century pubs deemed worthy of preserving.
The group behind the arts centre idea is determined to raise more than £650,000 to save the building and refurbish it for use by the community.
It is also looking into a community right to buy scheme under which a building can be listed by a local authority as a community asset and any prospective sale can be ‘paused’ for up to six months while the community tries to raise the required funds to buy it.
“By converting The Palomino into a community arts centre and café we will provide Newmarket with an extensive programme of arts related adult and youth classes, events and exhibitions, music nights, workshops during the day, bring back pentanque as well as offering a vibrant and pleasant meeting place for tea and coffee and locally produced food and conversation,” said Louise.
“We are currently running a survey to enable our community to have a say regarding current arts provision in Newmarket and be a part of its future development.”
To complete the survey, click through to their online form.