Big Burns Supper set to miss out on Loreburn Hall lease
- Published
The Big Burns Supper has been staged in Dumfries since 2012
The group which runs the Big Burns Supper looks set to miss out on the long-term lease of its current home.
Two rival bids were lodged for a 25-year deal for the Loreburn Hall in Dumfries where the Electric Theatre Workshop (ETW) is based at present.
A council report has concluded that an offer by the Drill Hall Initiative (DHI) would represent better value.
Councillors will be asked to agree to recommend they get the lease of the hall at a meeting on 7 June.
The Big Burns Supper festival held its 12th edition in the town earlier this year.
It looks like the Electric Theatre Workshop's lease of the hall will not be extended
The ETW was granted a six-month extension to its occupancy of the site while the longer term future of the property was examined.
Dumfries common good sub committee is now set to discuss its fate.
A report said that the ETW bid was for £2,000-a-year or 5% of profits - which ever was the higher amount.
The DHI - which wants to use the building as an events, arts and cultural space - sought two years rent-free as well as payment of its utility costs for the first three years.
It then offered £12,000 per annum for the site.
The council report said that over the first 10 years of the lease that would equate to income of £20,000 for the ETW bid and £51,000 from DHI.
Both bids fall considerably short of the £50,000 per annum which is considered to be market value.
Analysis of the offers also took into account the quality of the service being offered and ultimately scored in favour of the DHI proposal.
The common good sub committee is being advised to recommend that the council's finance committee approves that bid.
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