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Now the arts and cultural venue, Dunoon Burgh Hall, is appealing for people across the globe to mark its milestone anniversary by pledging financial support to enable it to keep going for another 150 years.
The hall has launched a crowdfunding campaign, inviting people to help meet its fundraising target of £50,000 by June 2024.
It took nine months to build the Hall back in 1873 to 1874, hence the timeframe.
At a special ceremony, young people from Dunoon Grammar School sealed and buried a capsule full of items, to be opened in 50 years time, which sum up what it’s like to be young in 2023.
A copy of The Herald is among the items which was buried.
Actor Gaia Wise, daughter of actors Dame Emma Thompson and Greg Wise, who have a home in the local area, is an ambassador for the 150th anniversary and attended the event.
People can donate any sum they wish to the crowdfunder, but the Hall has set itself the challenge of obtaining 150 pledges of £150.
Cowal-based crime and football author and Dunoon Burgh Hall trustee, John Nicholson, offered the first pledge of £150 through his t-shirt company, DJTees.com, leaving just 149 to go.
Dunoon Burgh Hall opened in 1874 but by the end of the 20th century it had fallen into a state of disrepair. It was rescued thanks to the efforts of local campaigners and architect, John McAslan, who grew up locally. He bought it for just £1 in 2008 and returned it to the community.
Following a major refurbishment in 2017, the Hall reopened, and has since hosted a range of cultural activities including theatre, gigs and major exhibitions featuring artworks by the likes Warhol, Degas and Joan Eardley. It also provides a gallery space for artists and designers and its cafe, complete with shop, is a popular meeting place for the public.
Its role in the past included supporting the World War One effort by hosting sales of work and knitting bees for troops fighting on the front line. Later, during World War Two, it was used as a canteen and entertainment space, as well as an administration office to support charity appeals and oversee the safety of over a thousand child evacuees.
Holly McAllister, Dunoon Burgh Hall’s Operations Manager, said: “Given that Cowal is a rural area with high deprivation, our mission is to make the arts accessible to all. The Hall’s artistic and creative workshops complement our year-round programme, supporting well-being and encouraging engagement with wider world while building skills and confidence.
“As a charity, the Hall is reliant on donations and has no core funding to support high overheads and maintenance costs.
“This money raised will support a number of projects, including helping the Hall to be greener and more sustainable by improving the fabric of the building. This will reduce energy costs, ultimately helping the building to keep going for many more years to come.
“We’re hopeful that our crowdfunder will attract attention and international support from ex-pats and people with links to the community.”
Over the next nine months a number of events and fundraisers will be held in addition to the crowdfunding campaign. Please visit the charity’s website for more details.
Ms Wise said: “Dunoon Burgh Hall holds a special place in my heart because of my wonderful friend – and art mentor – Colm Docherty. The Hall is a place for art, artists and the community to come together, drink tea, laugh, sing, dance and celebrate. So I am profoundly grateful to have been given the opportunity to show my love for such a great Hall, and such a great man.”
Mr McAslan said: “The Dunoon Burgh Hall is a triumphant example of how culture can lead the renaissance of a place through dynamic leadership and community participation. On the eve of its 150th Anniversary, I salute DBH’s wonderful team and volunteer group for working tirelessly to turn the Hall into the beating cultural heart for the town and way beyond.”
George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, Patron of Dunoon Burgh Hall, added: “The Burgh Hall has always been at the heart, both physically and symbolically, of Dunoon life. Its prominent position in the middle of Argyll Street meant it signalled the status and the standing of the Burgh itself. Our first home was in Church Street which descends from the Hall to the Firth so it was very much part of my early life. As politics became my passion the role of the Burgh Hall as a vital venue became all the more important. The saving of the Hall and its new life as a true community and arts centre gives it momentum for the next century and a half.”
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