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WALTHAMSTOW: Multi-million pound gallery plan to be unveiled

8:28am Wednesday 10th March 2010 in


A MULTI-MILLION pound plan to refurbish Walthamstow's famous William Morris Gallery will be unveiled to the public next week.

Under the plans, the gallery, in Lloyd Park, off Forest Road, will be extensively extended and redeveloped using money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The £5m plan includes refurbishing existing galleries, building a new extension, increasing accessibility and conserving the listed building.

Two public consultation events will be held at the gallery where people can find out more about the plans, which are backed by the council and the Friends of William Morris Gallery.

Representatives from architects Pringle Richard Sharratt will give a presentation on the proposed designs and conduct a question and answer session.

A spokeswoman for the gallery said: “This is your opportunity to find out more about and get involved in the project. “We would very much welcome your comments on our plans.”

The gallery is the only public facility devoted to famous socialist and artist William Morris, and its collection is considered by many to be of international importance.

The public consultation events take place at the gallery from 6pm to 7.30pm on March 17, and from 3pm to 4.30pm on March 21.

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Comments(16)

Marcus Retief says...
5:00pm Wed 10 Mar 10

This is a big building and with all the homeless begging in the High Street people would think that this place would make a hostel or flats for the needy instead of a art gallery fr the chosen few?

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Helen, Walthamstow says...
6:35pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Marcus Retief wrote:
This is a big building and with all the homeless begging in the High Street people would think that this place would make a hostel or flats for the needy instead of a art gallery fr the chosen few?
You CANNOT be serious! Marcus Retief, who has just appeared on this site, wouldn't be an old friend (couch, cough!) under a new name, by any chance?

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Marcus Retief says...
6:39pm Wed 10 Mar 10

Helen, Walthamstow wrote:
Marcus Retief wrote: This is a big building and with all the homeless begging in the High Street people would think that this place would make a hostel or flats for the needy instead of a art gallery fr the chosen few?
You CANNOT be serious! Marcus Retief, who has just appeared on this site, wouldn't be an old friend (couch, cough!) under a new name, by any chance?
I am serious because why is it that people come after possessions and leisure in this Country? Someone from another planet would not believe that the Government are spending Billions in stratford for a 3 week sporting event when there are people sleeping homeless all over the UK. take a walk up the Strand up town and it will make you cry seeing youngsters begging in the street for a scrap of bread like Victorian England. It is very sad to see. You would not make comments like this if you had seem this tragic scene.

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March Hare says...
8:13pm Wed 10 Mar 10

This strand points up an interesting dilemma and I wonder what William Morris, whose childhood home this was, would have made of it. As an ardent Socialist I think he would have wanted social justice and equality but as an artist he also have wanted people to experience beauty. The two things should not be mutually exclusive but decades of allowing market forces free rein have led us back from the advances made by the Welfare State of 1945 to the Victorian values Marcus Retief alludes to, which were so beloved of Margaret Thatcher and her cronies, and not robustly enough challenged by Tony Blair and his - with the results we see today.

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peeg says...
11:14pm Wed 10 Mar 10

This will be money well spent in my opinion. Looking forward to the completion date whenever that may be

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Marcus Retief says...
1:03am Thu 11 Mar 10

peeg wrote:
This will be money well spent in my opinion. Looking forward to the completion date whenever that may be
Armchair opinion from the warmth of a cosy front room with Val Doonigan cardigan and a hot meal no doubt. think of the poor souls out in the street please for once?

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Robert19 says...
9:05am Thu 11 Mar 10

Marcus Retief wrote:
peeg wrote:
This will be money well spent in my opinion. Looking forward to the completion date whenever that may be
Armchair opinion from the warmth of a cosy front room with Val Doonigan cardigan and a hot meal no doubt. think of the poor souls out in the street please for once?
Assuming this isn't a wind up, what do you suggest Marcus Retief, that we close down all arts activity in the country and give all these resources to the homeless? What about closing down the BBC and do likewise? Funding for local choirs and orchestras, sports facilities all unnecessary give the money to homeless shelters and be done with it. What a souless society we would have!
This detracts from the real story which is a very welcome bid to open up what has been a very hidden resource to local people. I've seen the proposals and there is a lot for children and local residents to be involved in and contribute to. Good luck with the second stage bid.

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Helen, Walthamstow says...
9:09am Thu 11 Mar 10

Goodness knows, Waltham Forest has very little of cultural value to offer. The William Morris Gallery is one of the few and adds to the quality of life of people living in this borough - not just the elite as Retief/Stinky etc would have you believe but for all the schoolchildren who learn there and all the people who visit it. Admission is free, and it is open to prince or pauper. In addition, it brings some visitors from elsewhere to spend their money in Walthamstow and could welcome a lot more with the planned upgrade.

As Retief/Stinky says there are people sleeping and begging out on the streets. That's the reason we have a hostel for homeless people in Waltham Forest, which is currently being improved and expanded and offers health advice, help with job-seeking and help with finding a home. No doubt more needs to be done which is why a lot of us contribute to charities like the local shelter and Crisis and some of us even volunteer for practical work. Do you, Retief/Stinky? Or do you walk faster whenever you see someone sleeping or begging on the street?

The suggestion that a not-very-big historic building situated in a park where children and other residents spend time during its opening hours should be turned into some sort of hostel for people who may have mental illnesses or drink/drug addictions is just plain stupid - and M/S knows it (I hope). He's like that. He thinks what he does is funny.

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Ulysses31 says...
10:06am Thu 11 Mar 10

Although homelessness is a problem that needs to be sorted you can't condemn developments like this. Weather you like art or not (i don't particular) there is a good chance this could bring more publicity/funding to the area as well as attracting wealthier people to live in the borough, the extra money the council gets from their taxes could give them more money to spend on the homeless in the borough.

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Walthamster says...
12:32pm Thu 11 Mar 10

It's striking that the very first comment is an effort to turn attention away from one of Walthamstow's few surviving cultural amenities. Retief's pretence of caring about homelessness is just posturing - no one seriously thinks that ignoring every other social need would somehow solve the problem. If he really cared about the homeless he would make some useful suggestions.

But his views are remarkably similar to those of the councillors who -- in the council's 2007 "Cultural Cull -- did their best to run down the gallery and send its priceless, world-class collection out of the borough. The massive opposiiton this triggered eventually defeated the worst of the council's plans. But it's been an ongoing battle for the past three years to protect not only the gallery but anything else that makes Walthamstow a little bit special. The council's horrible attitude (as with libraries, theatres, cinemas etc etc) is "It's not for the likes of us". In reality, with the big allowances they've voted themselves, they can afford anything they like. It's the ordinary people of Walthamstow and especially the children who are being deprived.

So I congratulate the Antiscrap campaigners and Friends of the William Morris Gallery for saving the William Morris gallery. They've made their case so well that even the council seems to have stopped attacking it. I hope I'm not speaking too soon!

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peeg says...
1:33pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Marcus Retief why don't you open up your home to these people? Or you could beg Gordon for a few pounds to spend on them. Frankly i don't care about them, enough money is spent on undeserving people; prisoners, chavs, benefit cheats, illegal immigrants etc. Its nice that money will be spent on something good for once

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March Hare says...
3:04pm Thu 11 Mar 10

I concur with the sentiments of your final sentence, peeg, but I think William Morris must be spinning in his grave at the rest of your comments!

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Earle Martin says...
6:07pm Thu 11 Mar 10

"A MULTI-MILLION pound plan to refurbish Walthamstow's famous William Morris Gallery will be unveiled to the public next week."

How much do you want to bet that none of those millions will be spent on bike parking?

http://crapwalthamfo
rest.blogspot.com/20
09/06/places-with-no
-cycle-parking-in-wa
ltham.html

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LEYTONOLDBOY says...
8:48pm Thu 11 Mar 10

Marcus Retief wrote:
This is a big building and with all the homeless begging in the High Street people would think that this place would make a hostel or flats for the needy instead of a art gallery fr the chosen few?
What 'chosen few'? Even the Victorians appreciated the value of providing life enrichment for all. The whole point of public galleries and museums is so that anyone can have access to art and beauty etc., including the homeless.

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Ridley says...
8:24am Fri 12 Mar 10

Marcus you are right. I've been there and all there is is a load of old furniture, carpets, paintings etc. A quick trip to Ikea will bring that place up to date, and allow the homeless / beggars a spacious bedsit each for when they return from a day's drinking or begging.

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March Hare says...
9:37pm Fri 12 Mar 10

"Forsooth, in the belly of every rich man dwelleth a devil of hell, and when the man would give his goods to the poor, the devil within him gainsayeth it, and saith, `Wilt thou then be of the poor, and suffer cold and hunger and mocking as they suffer, then give thou thy goods to them, and keep them not.' A Dream of John Ball by William Morris (1888).

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