IN spite of David Morgan's optimism (Shuttle/Times and News Letters, October 14), I cannot myself conceive that the hotch-potch of proposals for Kidderminster Town Hall would improve its facilities one iota for most of its users.
Our local authority masters would do well to heed the popular adage which runs: "If it ain't broke, don't fit it".
The town hall certainly "ain't broke", so please leave it alone. It is a first-rate musical concert hall, which it would be sheer folly to spoil, in the vain hope that it would then also serve as a second-rate theatre and a third-rate cinema.
At least, if the latest cinema proposals materialise we shall be spared the crass folly of a projection box which will almost certainly ruin the acoustics.
Some improvements are undoubtedly desirable, including better seating, for both audience and performers.
The hall would also benefit from a more precise heating system (perhaps even air-conditioning) while easier access for the disabled is now mandatory.
Yet, even as it stands, with its excellent acoustics and its unique Hill organ, it is one of the finest small concert halls in the West Midlands - perhaps in the country - regularly receiving acclaim from visiting artistes of international calibre.
It would be a tragedy if the forthcoming celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the building were to coincide with its conversion from a concert hall, of which the town is justly proud, into something which will be "neither fish, nor fowl, nor good red herring."
W COTTERELL
Vice president
Kidderminster Civic Society
Hillgrove Crescent
Kidderminster
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