Corner House & Memorial Hall Annual Public Meeting

Fri 6 Dec, 09:43

Thank you, Barbara.  Points well made and pertinent.

Fri 6 Dec, 09:22

John: thank you for this information about the meeting on Wednesday which I could not attend. Could I make several comments

1. The museum occupies a 1/3 of the GROUND FLOOR, with a small room in the loft, which is not a 1/3 of the whole building

2. The Museum has invested a lot of time and money in this part of the Corner House to create and preserve Charlbury's history. The new Wagon room, and the complete refurbishment of the museum's rooms was undertaken and funded by the Museum, helped by the fundraising efforts of local people with a large donation from a supporter. The cost was around £35000 to £40000 in 2005 or so. A lot of this work was also undertaken by local people for free or at a reduced rates. 

3. The Museum has reponsibility for financing and maintaining the internal space of this part of the Corner House. 

4. The museum funds and maintains the front garden with the help of the volunteer gardeners. The seat there was donated by a supporter as a memorial.

I hope this clarifies a few matters.

Fri 6 Dec, 08:34 (last edited on Fri 6 Dec, 08:35)

Yes. Three things, I think - though not much actual discussion.

First, that much of the Corner House's I & E deficit will be solved when the museum begins to pay a more realistic rent (currently £2 a year for more than ⅓ of the space). They're willing to do so, and the exact amount is currently under discussion as part of the renewal of their Occupancy Agreement.

Secondly that in our discussions about how best to allocate space if the Deli/Café do move into the Corner House, the Museum is keen to occupy the same rooms as they do at present.

Thirdly, the Museum trustees felt inadequately consulted about the implications of the possible Deli move - something the Corner House trustees dispute, pointing out that the Museum had been shown plans at the earliest possible opportunity and that those plans had since been radically revised in the light of the Museum's response.

Everyone was in agreement that the Museum is a splendid resource for the town and an appropriate major user of the Corner House premises.

Thu 5 Dec, 23:27

Thanks for the update John. Was anything regarding the museum discussed at the meeting?

Thu 5 Dec, 15:58

It was very encouraging to have so many people at the meeting last night.  Three headlines from it:

1)  The Corner House & Memorial Hall are not yet quite paying their way in terms of regular income & expenditure.  (We aim to use bonus income, such as the Street Fair proceeds, towards 'capital' projects, ie improving and developing the premises.)   We're tackling this as best we can!

2)  We've recently received very generous grants from Sustainable Charlbury (£30,000) and also Charlbury Beer Festival (£1,000) towards the complete overhaul and secondary-glazing of our lovely large sash windows.  This should make an appreciable difference to the warmth of the building.

3)  Charlbury Delicatessen & Café may need to relocate when their lease expires in a little over two years' time.  This could be an opportunity to develop our underused rooms, especially the Albright Room, and to reinstate the Corner House as an all-day social hub at the heart of the town.  (There will be many decisions, and there was much discussion last night, as to what this might mean in practice and how we might achieve it.)

These are (y)our buildings, and the Trustees work on your behalf to further the objects of the CHMH charity and to balance the various (and occasionally competing) interests of our users.  We'll keep you informed as best we can, and we value your suggestions and encouragement along the way!

Mon 2 Dec, 19:11 (last edited on Mon 2 Dec, 19:12)

At the Annual Public Meeting of the CHMH this coming Wednesday (7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall) we shall be sharing news of some recent large grants that we've secured:  it's wonderful to have some significant money starting to come in.  Although we're still in the early stages of fully repurposing the premises with twenty-first century standards of comfort & accessibility, we're now well on the way to making them a comfortable all-year-round venue.

The buildings belong to all of us, the people of Charlbury, and there are some exciting proposals in the offing about how the Corner House in particular can fulfil a much more thoroughgoing role as an all-day, all-year meeting-place at the heart of the town.  Come and find out more -- and play your part in helping us develop these ideas.