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Dateline: 5th December, 2003 Troubled Gala Faces Further Problems The Gala Theatre in Durham, which opened, at a cost of £14m of Lottery money, on 15th January 2002 and whose operating company, Entertainment Team (Durham) Ltd, collapsed and was wound up with debts totally £700,000 to more than 160 creditors in May of that year, is facing yet more problems. Now it is expected that half yearly figures, due to be released next week, will reveal a loss far greater than the £200,000 budgeted for. When the City Council took over the running of the theatre following the collapse of Entertainment Team, it promised that it would not be a burden on council tax payers. In its first year the theatre lost £900,000 and in June of this year the City Council announced that the theatre was meeting its financial targets. Now the council's chief executive, Colin Shearsmith, has announced that he will be taking early retirement on health grounds. Although both he and the council have insisted that there is no connection between the two events, the city's MP, Gerry Steinberg, a member of the House of Commons Public Accounts Comittee, has demanded "full clarification" about the state of the theatre and whether or not Mr Shearsmith has been the subject of a "gagging clause" over the events at the theatre. Just last week allegations emerged of "inappropriate use" of the theatre for an all-night Hallowe'en party in which, it is alleged, drug taking occurred. A council statement said, "An internal enquiry has commenced to investigate allegations that have been made concerning inappropriate uses of the Gala Theatre complex. The enquiry coincides with the commencement of an in-depth evaluation into available options for its future management. The study will focus on the day-to-day management, programming and future use of the complex." In yet another developement, Durham Constabulary's economic crimes unit is investigating allegations made by Entertainment Team's directors, Nicholas Rule and Michael Power, who both went bankrupt as a result of the firm's collapse, over the council's handling of their contract to run the theatre. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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