BBC Black Country: Public Opinions

It's two months away from opening. Will the Public be a focal point for the £500m regeneration of the Sandwell area? Or is it a shocking pink white elephant? Have your say in the comment box below.

It's West Brom's answer to London's Tate Modern. It will contain performance space, exhibitions, and a cafe bar. It's an ambitious project, even visionary - but it has been beset by problems.

The Public arts centre was due to cost approximately £38m - mostly funded by the Arts Council and other public bodies, including the European Regional Development Fund - and open in July 2006. But after delays, including cash flow problems and the project's architect going bust, it's now due to open in June 2008. Approximate cost: £52m.

David Clarke - For
David Clarke is the Public's new project director. He recently told BBC Inside Out:

"At the heart of it is the gallery - it's amazing - an international art gallery - but not like any gallery you've seen before. A gallery in which people can interact and play with and enjoy and contribute their own creativity."

On value for money, David said:

"I think people will understand when they can get in the building and enjoy it, that it's a great facility that will return value to these communities - many times over that has been spent on it."

Fiona McEvoy - Against
Fiona McEvoy, from The Taxpayer's Alliance, disagrees. She is a critic of the Public:

You can see that [West Bromwich] needs money invested in it. And most people in this area that we spoke to said: 'we want the money, we want the money invested in this area - but not in this way. We don't want an architect designed, all singing-all
dancing art gallery - that isn't what we need'.

"Nine times out of ten the people that we spoke to on the street were saying 'This is a waste'. This is millions and millions of pounds of waste, as far as they are concerned."

Richard Brooks - Against
Another outspoken critic of the project is Richard Brooks, Arts Editor for The Sunday Times newspaper. He questions the original vision for the Public. He said:

"It went wrong because it was maybe under-budgeted in the first place and basically it was never really thought through - from the first twenty odd years ago when it was first dreamed up.

"It was a dream - there's nothing wrong in dreams - but it was a rather unpractical dream.

"I don't think it's that exciting - it's as straightforward as that. No-one quite knows what it is. I just don't think it's got enough there, for people to take notice and say: 'I must come to the Public in West Bromwich'. Not just the people who live in this area - but people from around the West Midlands.

"But y'know I hope I'm wrong. Because it would be nice to think that people will come here - but it seems pretty small-beer stuff for a hell of a lot of money."

Bob Badham - For
Sandwell Councillor Bob Badham sees a bigger picture. He told Inside Out:

"I think you've got to give it five years of life to see how [the Public] fits in with the community, within Sandwell and the general West Midlands area.

"At the present time, 40% of West Bromwich is being redeveloped. And within the next ten to fifteen years 70% of the town centre will actually be new town centre. So we've got to see the Public as an important catalyst - already attracting £500m worth of development into the centre of West Bromwich."

Have your say
It'll be the people of Sandwell, and the West Midlands who will truly decide whether the Public suceeds or fails. What do you think? Have your say in the comment box below.