 The
opening of the Radio City complex represents the culmination of almost seven
years work by very many people to bring the project to fruition.
From the original germ of an idea based on doing something with a derelict
eyesore for young people of the area in the heat of a general election
campaign, to the submission of the seventh business plan specifying the
source of every prospective penny of revenue for the purposes of obtaining
critical New Opportunity Lottery (NOF) funding, the whole process has been a
marathon.
Thanks are due to all concerned. In particular, Largs architect Paddy Cronin
whose design set the ball rolling, Cunninghame Housing Association and their
chief executive Frank Sweeney who purchased the site and provided project
management and David Campbell and the New Opportunities fund whose support
was pivotal.
The Chair and all the members of the Radio City Board, including councillors
past and present, local community councillors and all individuals who
volunteered their services throughout the struggle to put together a
successful business plan to secure the necessary capital funding.
The funders themselves, including lottery funding bodies NOF, the Community
Fund and Heritage Lottery Fund. Public bodies including Ayrshire & Arran
Health Board, James Watt College, Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, Strathclyde
European Partnership and North Ayrshire Council.
Private and charitable companies including the Moffat Trust, AMEC,
Clydeport, British Energy and many others including the Ardrossan &
Saltcoats Herald who followed its progress every step of the long and
tortuous road to today
Without the support, financial and in kind, of everyone involved, the Radio
City would still be an unfulfilled political dream. Instead it is a triumph
of community endeavour over community despair and a testimony to what can be
achieved if people work together to create a better future for themselves. |
