NEWS ITEM

From one birth to another

Entertaining presentation at the JCA AGM

The Jericho Community Association General Meeting on April 24th was a very informative affair, with 63 people enjoying the striking facilities of the Cohen Quad of Exeter College.

Our main speaker was Professor William Whyte who is Chair of Project Board for the for the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities - the University's largest-ever capital project, funded by a hefty £175m-donation.

Professor White said he knew the Jericho Community Centre well, as he had attended ante-natal classes there --  the subject of which he would need to return to after the meeting. 

Underground bar

As well as combining many university libraries and facilities together in one place, the building will also create a new community focal point. It will be open every day until 9:00 PM for anyone to wander in and out, to use the café, for example, or the ‘long bar’ which is located in a subterranean floor. It will also offer state-of-the-art theatre and concert spaces. The building is due to open in 2025, but local people would also be invited to visit before then. 

Answering  questions about the building materials, Professor Whyte, who is professor of architectural history, and also Chair of the Oxford Preservation Trust, said that it would use low-carbon (partly recycled) concrete, as well as much of Rutland whose stone will be shipped in. One of our members raised the possibility of using compressed wood. Professor Whyte explained that this technology would not meet the current specification, though might have done in about 10 years’ time. 

Although there are as yet no windows for the curious to peer into the site, these should appear in couple of weeks. He was also asked about potential links for cycle and pedestrian routes through to a new bridge across the canal which he said he would look into. And as for the donor, Mr Schwartzman, who is CEO of a global private equity firm, he passed all the ethical tests with flying colours.

Reports and elections

In the business part of the meeting, Chair Charlotte Christie reported on the year 2022 which was when the Centre and the Association were  still recovering from COVID-19. Treasurer Peter Stalker presented the accounts, which showed a loss of £7,500 for 2022, but with a strong recovery in classes in the second half of the year. For this year we should be in a healthier position, though gas and electricity prices remain a concern. 

The meeting re-elected three of our existing trustees, Charlotte Christie, Phyllis Starkey and Scott Ellis  as well as new committee member, Alex Towler – and re-elected Charlotte Christie as Chair, John Crabtree as Vice Chair and Peter Stalker as Treasurer.

Phyllis Starkey, who is also Chair of the Jericho Wharf Trust, gave a brief update on the progress, or lack of it, since the planning application was upheld on appeal in February The developer, Cornerstone, has yet to say what it will do next. It could now try to make this scheme work, or they could put in yet another application. A more detailed Q&A on the current situation is available on the Jericho Wharf website.

As the meeting closed, Charlotte said how much she was looking forward to the new building appearing, and to a JCA AGM being held there in a few years’ time. She thanked Professor Whyte for his presentation, leaving him free to return home to his other project.....