Brighton History Centre to close

[Jill on the A272]

Brighton & Hove City Council are proposing to close the centre in order to save £62,000. the centre holds local directories, newpapers and much more of use to family & local historians.:xmas_no:

Parts could be housed temporarily in the city's Jubilee Library and then transfer to The Keep, a East Sussex county and city record office yet to be built jointly by the County & City counciles at Falmer (which is where Univ of Sussex is, work starts 2011).

I did some research for someone in Australia there recently, the staff are knowledgeable & friendly, all four jobs are to be axed. Sad days ahead.

[naomiatt]

Sorry to hear that Jill....do you think the closure will definitely go ahead?
Wonder if there is a petition? It seems wrong doesn't it...especially with all the history that goes with Brighton.

[Jill on the A272]

I heard about it yesterday on Rootschat from someone who was in there yesterday and it's in tonight's local paper. It was on TV on one of the "Who Do You Think You Are?" episode (Maureen Lipman I think). I don't know about any petitions but will be looking out for more news.

[Allan]

Brighton History Centre

I use to work for the Council and understand they have a big big hole in their budget this year and next. If Councillors think this is an easy saving which has little impact on the majority of their voters and does not impact on key services they will jump at it. If you had no interest in the Centre and had to choose between closing it or getting rid of Social Workers, what would you choose?
They will only listen to residents so you need to get people in the city to moan at their Councillors to either keep the Centre open or guarantee a decent service at the Library.
As for 'The Keep'? I doubt it will ever happen unless private/lottery money can be obtained.

[Olde Crone Holden]

Allan

I don't live in Brighton, so cannot speak on behalf of the residents there, but if their council is anything like ours then they could SAVE £64,000 in many other ways, including NOT making unnecessary expenditure on new furniture for the offices, for example.

I have rarely known any Archive centre to be improved by closing it, or merging it with another one.

What a great shame this is. I do hope the Council can be persuaded to back pedal on this one.

OC

[jorog]

I used to live in the Brighton area and it was the helpful staff at the Centre who encouraged my interest in Family History.

The existing RO at Lewes does not even have enough archive storage, resorting to garage space for irreplaceable records.

I wonder if The Council will take as long to build a new facility as it has to replace the King Alfred Complex.
There were thousands of pounds wasted on the King Alfred proposals, but the Complex is still crumbling.
I am no longer a resident but know how the Council used to squander money. For this reason I do not think it a choice between the Centre & Social Services, but a choice between a Facility and Wastefulness.

[Flora1966]

Thats sad to hear..I used to go there at least twice a week..I was hoping to visit again when I moved back down to England in Feb!! x

[Jill on the A272]

I haven't seen a closure date yet Flora, maybe you'll get here in time.