JANET Stockley, president of WOW youth musical theatre group, fought two years ago to stop the theatre from being torn down.

She said: “I’m very disappointed to hear that the Pavilion is losing money.

“I thought that the set-up there overall had improved.

“Contrary to what a lot of people think we pay a lot of money to hold our shows there. It can be up to £10,000 a show.”

Mrs Stockley said WOW would be badly affected if the theatre shut down.

“It would affect us quite badly because we give youngsters an opportunity to perform on a very good stage.

“I think they are going wrong because they are not putting on quality shows.

“There are a few shows that people want to see like ‘That Will Be The Day’ and Joe Pasquale, but the rest of them are tribute acts and some of them aren’t very good.”

Robert Veale was a member of Our Weymouth – Pavilion supoorters who collected 7,500 signatures for a petition to keep the Pavilion open.

He said: “In our experience the Pavilion is a well loved feature of the town.

“People like Councillor Farrell want to kill it off because they think it’s too much trouble.

“The council will have bitten off more than they can chew if they sell it for redevelopment.

“The best thing they can do is make it into a community trust involving people who are willing to support it.”

Subsidy level 'a concern'

COUNCILLOR Andy Blackwood, who is culture, tourism and community spokesman for the council, said the level of subsidy to the Pavilion was ‘a concern’.

He added: “A busy, successful Pavilion is a huge asset for Weymouth and we are working very hard to make that happen and show that it gives value for money for local taxpayers.

“This time last year, the council adopted a business case to support the development of the Pavilion over the next five years.

“In the current economic climate, increasing ticket sales for theatre events has been particularly challenging and some of the targets have not been achieved.

“However, we have been successful in encouraging new users of other parts of the complex such as the Ocean Room and the cafe.

“We are monitoring very closely which parts of the complex have opportunities for improved performance.

“The council subsidises the Pavilion each year because of the significant economic and cultural benefits that it brings to the town.

“But the level of subsidy is a concern amongst some council members and a more realistic plan is now being put in place to reduce this over time.

“A new budget is being prepared for next year with the aim of reducing the cost.”

Grand plans vanished

AROUND 60 people attended a council meeting in July 2009 to hear councillors vote in favour of keeping Weymouth Pavilion open.

It was decided that potential developers Europa Capital, funding partners of original developers Howard Holdings, should be given two more months to decide whether to take on the project of redeveloping the Pavilion site.

In September 2009 Europa refused its option to redevelop the site.

Howard Holdings backed out of developing the Pavilion and Ferry Terminal site after proposing new community facilities with a completely remodelled building in a scheme that included affordable housing.