the old eductation board building is now to be the new wellington arts centreJust spot­ted on the excel­lent Feel­ing Great web­site — Welling­ton is to get a new Arts Cen­tre, on Abel Smith Street (in the old Edu­ca­tion Board Build­ing between Cuba and Vic­to­ria Streets).

We’re not sure if the old Arts Cen­tre (the band rotun­da down Ori­en­tal Parade, where we go for piano lessons every week, inci­den­tal­ly), will be kept on or not, but, either way, the new facil­i­ties look set to expand the num­ber and range of artists and work­shops able to be housed at any one time. The new space cov­ers 3000 square metres of floor­space, over a total of sev­en floors in two adja­cent build­ings.

Rehearsal-room-deprived musi­cians should take note, there are also plans afoot for sound-proofed prac­tice rooms. Final­ly.

Stu­dios, meet­ing spaces and var­i­ous facil­i­ties will be avail­able from April of this year. If you want to lease a stu­dio, get in now while there are still places avail­able. More details and info on get­ting appli­ca­tion forms are avail­able from the Feel­ing Great web­site.