[peel] Re: Maida Vale to be made into executive flats?

[Domestic Empire]

This is nothing new in that the BBC has a long tradition of pissing
away it's heritage. Of course a building is just a building when all's
said and done and maybe, just perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if the
quality of their output were maintained...

I'm afraid to say though that it seems inevitable there will come a
time when the beeb is nothing more than a husk a of past glories.

Acording to the official BBC Charter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/charter/ the corporation is "free
from both political and commercial influence and answers only to its
viewers and listeners"

When were you last consulted about even so much as a minor policy
change? And how much influence do you imagine you might have?

Have a last, or first, look around before they're gone forever:
http://www.bbcradioresources.com/locations/maidavale/index.html

On 04/07/07, ken garner <ken_garner@...> wrote:
> I can reassure friends that what I write in my concluding chapter
> about this plan will hardly be touching, except perhaps in the sense
> of 'baseball bat' and 'nuts'. They have tried to do this before, but
> as soon as someone - normally a network controller - points out or
> asks 'where exactly am I supposed to get my live music done?', the
> plan has collapsed. On the one hand, technology  and access to
> recording has changed, and Radio 1 (and 2) do not need to do 7 or 8
> 12 hour pre-rec sessions every week to fulfil their obligations to
> new musicians and musical activities; and while there is a clear case
> for MV1 (where else is the BBC Symphony Orchestra going to find a big
> enough space it can just use all year? How much would it cost to new
> build such a space elsewhere?), 3 (jazz, natural acoustic, sense of
> occasion, etc) and 4 (nuff said), it is a bit harder to justify the
> other studios; and the pricing / real costing of MV out to the
> networks since the Birt era of producer choice and the internal
> market has caused some ghastly internal problems requiring innovative
> solutions - from 2000 onwards, R1 simply block booked MV4 for an
> entire year, and subcontracted some days to other networks, and this
> was the only way they could afford it!
>
> But on the other hand Rob's point is well made, the excuse given is
> clearly nonsense, Maida Vale is quite capable of coping with almost
> anything, thanks to its size and the creativity of BBC engineers.
> Aside from the economics, there is course the cultural, historical
> and public service issue: the BBC has a legacy it is politically
> obliged to honour. Would they remove the eric gill statue from above
> the entrance to broadcasting house? Of course not. But it's ok to
> smash up the place where the BBC has helped make British musical
> history for 70 years. I  happen to know that the vast new extension
> being built in the big hole next to BH includes NO MUSIC STUDIOS OF
> ANY KIND - which is currently of some concern to Radio 3 and Radio 2.
> I think we have not heard the last of this story...
>
>
> it was a roller skating rink, built in 1909, by the way
>
> ken
>
> ps. Rob, I'm sure you've told me before, but remind me who you did a
> session with, sorry!
>
> --- In peel@yahoogroups.com, RobF <robfleay@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Interesting how a building now considered "not suitable
> > > for the demands of the 21st-century digital age" has been
> > > perfectly able to host so many magic Peel recordings by
> > > electronic artists, both live and recorded.
> >
> > I'm sure anyone who has ever been to Maida Vale knows what they are
> REALLY saying.
> >
> > The place is huge and has multiple studios - from the enormous MV1
> where the BBC Symphony Orchestra were rehearsing while we were
> recording a session in MV4 - a much smaller, cosier arrangement.
> >
> > It was never built as a recording studio complex - I think it was
> originally an ice rink or something, and the BBC bought it and
> converted it to studios.
> >
> > Essentially they are saying is that it's way too big and in far too
> much of a desirable area for it to NOT be worth selling the land.
> >
> > They can sell the land for a fortune and purpose-build some new
> studios in a cheaper out of town location. And of course it will be
> utterly characterless.
> >
> > It's interesting that the news comes out now - just in time for Ken
> to write a touching epilogue to his Peel Sessions book!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > It wou
> >
> > -----------------------------------------
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> >
>
>
>


-- 
Gary {aka domestic empire}
http://johnpeeleveryday.blogspot.com