Culture Minister joins fight to save Livingstone Centre

Apr 2 2009 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

CULTURE Minister Mike Russell has intervened in the row over the future of Blantyre’s David Livingstone Centre.

As the number of people signing our ‘Save the Livingstone Centre’ petition reached more than 1200, Mr Russell met National Trust for Scotland bosses to discuss their closure programme announced earlier this month.

The cash-strapped NTS say they will end their management of the centre unless someone clears its £100,000 deficit by the end of this month.

It is one of 11 Trust properties facing the threat of closure or partial closure.

If the trust severed their ties with the centre, control would be handed back to its board of governors and trustees.

If that happened, the governors would face problems in maintaining and running the centre.

South Lanarkshire Council offered to increase their annual grant to the centre from £20,000 to £50,000, but that was turned down by the NTS.

Last week, former First Minister Jack McConnell called on the NTS and Scottish Government to take steps to avert the “absolutely tragic rundown of the centre”.

Now Central Scotland SNP MSP, Christina McKelvie, has been told by Mr Russell that he raised directly with NTS chiefs concerns over the future of the centre.

Mr Russell also intends to visit the centre later this month to find out more about the possible implications of the NTS’s proposal.

Ms McKelvie said: “I was in talks with the Minister’s office to make sure that he was aware of the potential threat to the future of the David Livingstone Centre.

“Mr Russell responded very promptly and told me that he is taking the matter very seriously and assured me that the future of the David Livingstone Centre was very much on the agenda of the meeting he had with NTS bosses.

“I am hopeful that a satisfactory solution to this crisis can be found quickly and the future of this enormously important local and national resource safely secured.”

Ms McKelvie said she had also asked her staff to explore possible alternative forms of funding for the centre.

Meanwhile, there was an end to the uncertainty over whether the Livingstone Centre will be allowed to re-open following the winter break.

NTS gave the go ahead for the centre to open yesterday (Wednesday) but that ‘stay of execution’ only extends to the end of the month.

The NTS will meet at the end of April to decide on the future of the Livingstone Centre and their properties earmarked for closure.

Over Easter, the centre will be running a Cadbury’s-backed ‘Easter Trails’ event for children.

Youngsters follow trails in the centre’s grounds, solve clues about Livingstone in return for a chocolate ‘egghead’.

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