Alhambra bosses say they will not accept the £150,000 award from Fife Council that was granted last week to help secure the Dunfermline theatre's future. 

Councillors at last Tuesday's executive committee voted to provide the funding for one year - short of what the popular venue had requested - after a long debate. 

A report to the committee proposed giving the Alhambra £150,000 a year for three years, as well as up to £50,000 a year for three years to support the costs of booking major West End shows, and said that it could close in March if they did not get it. 

The Alhambra also wanted to take over the running of the Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline but the alternative funding plan, £150,000 for one year, was put forward and passed after a vote.  

However, the Alhambra Theatre Trust issued a statement last night which reads: "The trust would like to make clear, following a number of online comments, that the trust never asked for and does not intend to accept the £150,000 funding from Fife Council agreed by the executive committee on 12th January.

"On 30th December 2015 we notified council leader David Ross, deputy leader Councillor Lesley Laird, Cllr Helen Law, area services manager Joe McGuinness, executive director Keith Winter and cultural partnerships & events strategy manager Linda Temple of the following –

“At the risk of being ungracious we have no interest in the late alternative proposal from Fife Council offering us £150,000 per annum over a three year period.

"We agreed to allow this proposal to go forward only on the basis that if this sum is secured in your forthcoming budget it could be allocated to our merger proposal tabled in July 2015.

"The continued prospect of the Alhambra being awarded a standstill figure of £150,000 per annum whilst the Fife Cultural Trust receive £350,000-plus per annum to operate the Carnegie Hall, in competition with private charitable enterprise, is of no interest to us as it does not address the issues which have become obvious to us all over the last eight years."

The statement continued: "This proposal was downscaled from three years to one year and the agenda amended by the Labour group on the night before the executive committee met.

"In 2015 we were invited by Fife Council to put together a proposal aimed at bringing the two theatres together, not only to achieve a cohesive cultural identity allowing the two theatres to exist side by side free of damaging competition, but also to examine ways of creating savings for Fife Council.

"The resulting proposal was met favourably by both Fife Council and Fife Cultural Trust, and all parties began to work towards making an amalgamation a reality. Various options were tabled, including our willingness to allow Fife Cultural Trust to take over the running of the Alhambra.

"Our proposal was to run both theatres for £350,000 in the first year, decreasing annually to £215,000 in the fifth year. The reduction in funding a result of increased income and efficiencies across both venues.

"A new organisation known as Dunfermline Performing Arts, with full Fife Council participation was to be formed, though it is important to point out that both venues would continue to be accountable separately.

"At the 11th hour, and after six months of discussions, on 18th December we were disappointed to learn that Fife Cultural Trust had changed direction and would no longer support an amalgamation.

"It was only then that an alternative figure of £150,000 funding for the Alhambra Theatre began to be discussed for the first time. We have made it clear in our meetings with Fife Council from the outset that this is not the outcome that we seek.

"All discussions with Fife Council regarding the merger proposal, and the future of the Alhambra Theatre, were on a confidential basis, at the request of Fife Council.

"The wording of the report to the executive committee on options for the potential merger or funding for the Alhambra Theatre, as picked up by the Dunfermline Press, was entirely Fife Council’s and in our opinion was skewed and short of accurate comparative detail.

"Similarly, the study put together by Biggar Economics to look into the Alhambra Theatre’s impact on Fife’s economy was commissioned by Fife Council.

"The reaction online, to a decision regarding a proposal that we never made, has been disappointing in some regards, though we have been overwhelmed too with messages of support."

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