£1m more needed for troubled Waygood art gallery
Jun 4 2009 by Amy Hunt, The Journal
Setbacks plague project
THE Waygood Gallery was set up in 1995 by fine art graduate Ms Smith as a place where artists from the North East could exhibit.
The gallery and 20 artists’ studios already occupied one floor of the Wards buildings and Waygood bosses approached the council when the complex was put up for sale because they could not afford to buy it themselves.
It was bought for £1.7m using a grant from One North East via the Grainger Town Partnership, the proviso being that the city council would refurbish the building for cultural use. The tenants were moved to a temporary home in Byker when plans for the redevelopment were drawn up, although Waygood continued to occupy at least part of the building.
With backing from the city council it was hoped to transform the Waygood Gallery into a venue to rival Gateshead’s Baltic. With the revamp costs estimated at £3m, the council and Waygood began a fundraising campaign.
But the construction process was beset with problems which saw contract costs rise to £5m from an original figure of £2m-£3m.
Problems with securing access for cranes delayed the start of the project. Then because more than two years had elapsed as a result of the delay the council had to go out to tender again. Building work finally started in March 2008, but further setbacks occurred when a Victorian well was found in the grounds, structural damage to walls in the building was discovered and the building flooded during bad weather last autumn.
