A cinema and arts centre could close within days unless tens of thousands of pounds are found to save it, say supporters.
Those running the Scala in Prestatyn say it could be forced to shut early next week as it faces a proposed loss of council funding and struggles to pay staff wages.
A desperate “Save Our Scala” appeal has been launched to raise the £97,000 reportedly needed to keep the centre open in the long term.
Chris Bond, general manager of the Scala, said if the centre cannot pay its wage bill of £20,000 by next week, it will have to close.
Mr Bond said the centre suffered a bad summer but has “always been underfunded” by the council.
He said: “It’s an expensive building to run, and we’ve always been playing catch-up.
“The council have now told us they could cut all our funding.”
The building is owned by the council, but is leased to and run by a charity trust.
A meeting of the board of trustees will be held tonight.
“They could decide to close the building immediately, or we could stay open until the beginning of November,” said Mr Bond.
Rhiannon Hughes, chair of the Scala’s board of trustees, said the news had come as a shock to supporters of the centre.
She said: “I really don’t understand why Denbighshire are behaving like this. I don’t know how we can plan for losing 100% of our funding. Once it’s closed, it would be very difficult to reopen.”
A spokesperson for Denbighshire said:
“We met with the Scala to discuss the situation the council is facing. The council needs to find savings of £17m over the next two years, and we may not be in a position to continue the Scala’s grant subsidy next year.
“This is clearly challenging for them, which is why we wanted to alert them to this possibility as soon as possible, particularly given their difficult trading position. We have always tried to be as flexible as possible to support them in their operations, but there are limits to what we’re able to do. We have invited the Scala to respond, and have yet to hear back from them.”
Source: Daily Post article by Rodri Barker 29.10.14