RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30365, 14 February 1964, Page 17

RANDOM REMINDER

LET US GO FORWARD

Three cheers for Dr. Duff and his Olde Museume Coffee Shoppe- He has not only provided a valuable amenity for visitors to the museum; he has won, hands down, the minor skirmish with the public in defence of the new scheme. Although he has not actually said so, it seems that Dr. Duff, and a good many other people, feel that a museum, although dealing largely with the past, need not be like a funeral parlour. When we were young—and it was some time before the new wing was added—visiting the museum was rather like calling on an aged and ailing relative. The tip-toe-ing and the whispering were probably proper: but the museum seemed a place of decay and death, not one Of learning, and vital interest. The lead offered by the museum with its coffee bar, and Lancaster Park with its public bars for cricket, points the way

to sharpened public interest in other city amenities. More people might be able to stomach some of the newer painters at the art gallery if there was a dine and dance arrangement there. The beauties of the summit road drive by night would . be brought into focus if there were drivein cinemas at a few strategic points. Water ski-ing in summer, iceskating in winter would increase the popularity of the Centennial Pool—and that roof would not have to go on. Hot dogs, hamburgers and souvenir postcards at the portals to the road tunnel would help, and something could be done with the Civic Theatre, to make the Proms more like the London variety, with everyone milling about and popping off for a quick drink. It might even be possible, with a little careful thought, to give the refreshments a topical turn—vodka

night, for a Tchaikowgky programme; beer for Benjamin Britten; and for Rossini, a little absinthe to make the heart grow fonder. But perhaps the best place to push sales would be the botanic gardens. If the coffee bar at the museum is appreciated by weary walkers, how much more popular would a beer garden be at the gardens? Particularly if the City Council could be persuaded to use a little imagination, and give it, say, an English village touch, with the employees in smocks and With crooks. Of course, at six o’clock there would be a few idiots stumbling into the paddling pool, and the archery lawn would have to be cordoned off; but if the council would risk having a few old roses trampled down, and put a small T.A.B. agency in a suitable position, it would really be serving the public.