HIRING OF CONCERT HALL DISCUSSED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18640, 18 December 1928, Page 4

HIRING OF CONCERT HALL DISCUSSED.

COMMITTEE MAY LET DOWNSTAIRS PORTION TO SMALLER BODIES. The chairman of the Concert Hall Committee (Coucillor J. W. Beanland) was kept busy' towards the close of last night’s meeting of the City Council replying to questions concerning the conditions for the hiring of the hall. Councillor G. Manning stated that on Saturday- night he noticed that the regular ushers were not employ'ed, and, while not wishing to impose extra bur,fcdens on the musical societies using the hall, he wished to know whether the ; committee did not think that some of the regular staff should be on duty. Councillor Beanland said that the committee had agreed to allow societies able to provide their own u.shers to do so, except in the case of certain duties which it was considered should be carried out by* the regular staff. He had discussed the matter with the secretary of the Theatre Employees’ Councillor Clyde Carr, M.P., raised the question of allowing organisations which could not fill the whole hall to use the lower part only' at a reduced rental. The circle, he said, could, under such circumstances, be closed up, and, if the rental was lower than was charged for the use of the whole of the hall, this would meet the position of societies and organisations which found the present charges too high for them. Councillor Beanland said that the committee would be pleased to consider the matter. He thought there would be no objection to letting the lower part of the hall at a reduced rental, provided it did not mean refusing an offer from someone else to take the whole of the hall at the full rental. Whether the Concert Hall Committee intended to formulate a reply to certain statements made at a meeting at which a proposal to establish a Little Theatre in Christchurch was discussed, was a question put to Councillor Beanland by' Councillor J. W. Roberts. Some of the statements, said Councillor Roberts, seemed to call for a reply', especially a statement that the Concert Hall was a disgraceful piece of work. Councillor Beanland said it was a question for the committee to consider whether it should reply to every criticism that appeared in the newspapers concerning the Concert Hall. If someone else wished to build another hall, he had no objection to them doing it. The rentals for the Concert Hall had been fixed on as low a basis as possible, and, as the chairman of the committee, he was try'ing to make it pay. Councillor Andrews asked if any return of receipts and expenditure could be submitted to the council before the end of the committee’s year, so that the councillors would be able to see how the financial position stood. Councillor Beanland said that he hoped that such a statement would be prepared as early- as possible in the New Yean