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Mareel

Location	Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland
Owner	Shetland Arts
Type	Music, Cinema, Community education
Opened	25 August 2012
Website
www.mareel.org

Mareel is a multi-purpose entertainment venue located on the waterfront of Lerwick, the capital of Shetland. Opening in 2012, the facility includes a music venue, cinema, conference rooms and educational facilities.

Facilities

Mareel is designed as a multi use venue and hub for the creative industries. The site is near the new Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick. Shetland Arts are the lead agency behind the project, Gareth Hoskins were the architects and D.I.T.T. the building contractors. The name means "phosphorescence on the ocean".

The main performance auditorium has a standing capacity of about 650 and a seated capacity of around 250, with a balcony seating a further 85 people. There are 2 screening areas. The main cinema has a seated capacity of around 160 with a smaller second cinema seating around 40.

The recording studio has a control room and live area. The split level cafe bar incorporates additional performance areas. The rehearsal area(s) have sprung floors making them suitable for music and dance use. The multi media production suite has facilities for film, TV, music, graphics and website production.

Shetland College UHI began delivering music courses in Mareel in the 2012/13 academic year.

History

Timeline of key dates in the project's history

Finance

Mareel has attracted finance from sources including

• £5,190,000 - Shetland Islands Council
• £2,800,000 - European Regional Development Fund
• £2,120,000 - Scottish Arts Council lottery fund
• £965,000 - Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• £965,000 - Shetland Development Trust
• £50,000 - Gannochy Trust

Controversy

Opinions on Mareel are split amongst many in Shetland

Motivations for building Mareel include the development of the music, film and creative industries, tourism, educational opportunities, job creation and the provision of leisure and education facilities for the community, particularly young people.

Some local businesses, particularly Lerwick pub and night club owners via the Shetland Licensed Trade Association, claimed that Mareel would negatively affect their profits and an anonymous State Aid complaint was submitted to the European Commission on 17 July 2008. Shetland Arts countered these claims by providing evidence that Mareel would "generate activity and vitality into the night-time economy of Lerwick, to the benefit of all including the local hoteliers, publicans and restaurants". The State Aid complaint was not upheld.

Another source of concern was Mareel's business plan which detractors claim is unrealistic, particularly in terms of revenue raised from sales at the cafe bar. However, the business plan has been reviewed and approved by funders. Highlands and Islands Enterprise commissioned an Economic Impact Study which highlighted outcomes including the creation of 52 jobs and a positive impact on population retention of young people - an HIE Youth Migration Study identified the "creative industries as one of the most important sectors in encouraging young people to stay in or return to Shetland."

Some detractors have claimed that the capital funds allocated to Mareel would have better been spent on other projects, such as to avert the closure of rural schools, apparently under the misapprehension that the funders' capital could have been diverted to bail out the Shetland Islands Council Education revenue budget which had been overspent for many years.

Shetland Islands Council support

In 2008 the Shetland Islands Council voted to review their support for Mareel even though they had agreed their support on number of previous occasions and had "already spent around £750,000 on Mareel and previously committed itself to spending a further £4.5m from its capital programme.". The council voted 15:7 to commission a business plan review and re-vote six weeks later.

The Shetland Islands Council's finance officials reported the business plan to be "robust" and "well researched", but that costings estimates were "light" and audience and income targets "challenging".

The result of the subsequent vote on Wednesday 25 June was in favour of continuing support for Mareel. Due to a 9:9 split convener Sandy Cluness used his casting vote and is reported to have said "As far as I am concerned you can go ahead and build Mareel" as he delivered his decision, to "cheers of delight and lengthy applause from the 40 or so supporters" who were present in the council chambers.

Despite the vote "a few councillors (were) apparently unable to accept the democratic decision." West Mainland councillor Gary Robinson called into question the convener's handling of the vote stating "I think Sandy (the convenor) has won a battle, but the war isn’t over yet" and that he and other opponents (including Alison Duncan who had 6 weeks previously expressed his desire to "place a bomb" under Mareel and Jonathan Wills, a one time supporter of Mareel) would be considering their options in the coming weeks. This group continue to voice their opposition

Councillor Alan Wishart, who had voted against Mareel, reflected the majority view that the vote had been handled "properly and fairly" stating it had been "pretty intense, but a reasoned debate and I’m content with that... It was very reasonable on both sides and democracy had its say."

Music industry

Most of Lerwick's music venues and clubs closed during the 1990s and 2000s including the North Star, LK Sound Factory (Jubilee), Somewhaur Else, Ferry Inn (converted to Beltrami's but no longer featuring live music), Mooney's Wake and Baroc, and Mareel is seen by many as a positive development for the local live music scene.

Mareel's recording facilities are also considered to be an important development for the local industry, for both commercial and educational uses.

Public art

Artists Nayan Kulkarni and Roxane Permar were commissioned by Shetland Arts Development Agency to create public art for the building using the medium of light. They conceived the project, Mirrie Dancers, which involved members of the community and Shetland Lace knitters in the process of making work which will become part of the permanent installation at Mareel.

References

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7. Mareel Frequently Asked Questions published by Shetland Arts in May 2008
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10. ^ "Mareel: now the work can begin". The Shetland Times. 5 December 2008.
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12. Pete Hayman (10 December 2008). "New £12m venue for Shetland". Leisure Management. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
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18. "Councillors to be given more detail on progress of Mareel construction". The Shetland Times. 25 March 2011.
19. "Mareel sub-contractors walk off job". 18 March 2011.
20. "Mareel denied late licence despite police approval". The Shetland Times. 14 June 2011.
21. "Further delays mean Mareel will not be taking bookings until march next year". The Shetland Times. 17 June 2011.
22. "Creative Scotland ready to invest in 'nationally significant' Mareel". 14 October 2011.
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25. "Isles NHS defends its negligence record | Shetland News". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
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34. Pete Bevington (3 December 2008). "Mareel hits Euro jackpot". Shetland News. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
35. "Mareel - Cinema & Music Venue". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
36. Mareel — New Cinema & Music Venue. Shetland Islands Council. Web. September 2010
37. Malachy Tallack (4 July 2008). "Shetland Life Editorial". Shetland Life. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
38. Davie Gardner (18 September 2007). "A facility to keep Shetland on the cultural map". Shetland News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
39. Davie Gardner (30 April 2008). "The last one to leave…". Shetland News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
40. Neil Riddell (25 July 2008). "Anonymous complainer tries to sabotage Mareel". Shetland Times. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
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42. "Mareel Creative Industries and Media Centre". HIE. Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
43. Neil Riddell (20 June 2008). "Decision time for important projects". HI-Arts. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
44. Sue Wilson (July 2008). "Mareel, Lerwick: The Fight for Mareel". HI-Arts. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
45. ^ Pete Bevington (26 June 2008). "Go ahead and build Mareel!". Shetland News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
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60°9′33″N 1°8′46″W / 60.15917°N 1.14611°W / 60.15917; -1.14611

• Shetland music
• Buildings and structures in Shetland
• Lerwick
• 2012 establishments in Scotland