The Stove

from Matt Baker and Mark MacLachlan:
Some of you may remember that in 2009 Dumfries was successful in applying to the Scottish Government's 'Town Centre Regeneration Fund'. Using the cachet of the creative economy in the region a grand total of £750,000 was received in order to buy an empty shop in the town centre - the idea was that this shop would then be used as some kind of 'showcase' for the region's creative sector and would have the effect of bringing more people into the town centre.

This project was led by Dumfries Chamber of Commerce who were unfortunately unable to forge a working relationship with anyone in our sector. 

The shop in Dumfries that has been bought for the project- the former Happit building on 'Fountain Square' right in the heart of the town

In February of this year, alarmed at the possibility that the shop might just revert to a conventional use, a group of people from The Commonty began discussions directly with senior management in D+G Council to try and find a way to rescue this amazing opportunity for the arts, for Dumfries and for the region.

Rough Cut Nation  .... Forest Cafe in Edinburgh is one of the examples of an town centre arts venue that The Stove project is looking at

There are no guarantees that anything will come of this...there is a very long way to go, but the outlook is promising. The building has 3 floors - the idea being discussed is that the bottom floor would be an 'arts café' and that the top floor be rented as office/studio space to small businesses and that the income from these two would provide the base funding for a project/exhibition/performance space which would be programmed with contemporary music, art, multi-media workshops etc. In other words - The Stove would become a minature contemporary cultural centre for the town.... a focus for the creative community around Dumfries, the HQ for a series of projects about contemporary Dumfries and make links with other cultural/heritage projects in the town (eg Moat Brae, Theatre Royal etc).


We believe that The Council are serious in their commitment to making something 'cultural' work in the building and our group have been very active in building relationships with people who are keen to be a part of a wider partnership on the project (eg café people, the University of Glasgow, Moat Brae, Theatre Royal, Councillors and potential patrons).

We'll report back as, and when, we are able to give solid information....in the meantime if anyone is interested in getting involved (as a potential tenant of the building? with ideas for how the building should function? or just to help out in any way?) - then please get in touch by email thecommonty@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post.

for info- the people working on this (for free) at the moment are: Mark MacLachlan, Matt Baker, Will Levi Marshall, Linda Mallett, Lesley Rogers, Colin Tennant, Hugh Bryden, Mark Zygadlo, Jo Shennan