Paisley’s cultural renaissance has been underway for a long time now, as the town leaders try a complete reinvention as a cultural centre of Scotland, the U.K. and all of Europe. The big focus from the start of the project was to highlight and amplify Paisley’s industrial history and contributions to the world of fashion and fabrics, building up the town’s place in world history.
The thing is, though, culture can’t always come from celebrations of the past, and sometimes a new creation of culture is needed. As a prime example, look over to Liverpool.gov.uk at the incredible work done around the old docks of Liverpool, now home to an arena so massive that it can host the Eurovision song contest.
While Paisley isn’t exactly set up to undergo a development project on that scale, it is this kind of thinking that could boost the speed of the regeneration. Beyond the recently announced museum product
The Artistic Approach
The most obvious approach to start with is investing directly in the town’s cultural infrastructure. Currently, the artistic and theatrical hub of the town is the arts centre, however, there is certainly scope for something larger and grander beyond the 140 seats offered there. Part of the museum project allows room for greater development beyond what is already planned, and a large-scale theatre around the same grounds would fit perfectly.
However, what would really serve as a cultural legacy is less of a performance space and more of an educational site for theatre. A form of arts and theatre academy, even just a small one to begin with, could help tell stories both from the region and from Paisley’s great heritage itself. Performance is an integral part of the community as we regularly cover at Paisley.org.uk, and having facilities to directly train the next generation would be a huge boost to the local scene.
The Entertainment Approach
With Glasgow so close by, what options are left for Paisley to find something unique? It may not sound like the first choice for a relatively small town in the west of Scotland, but a well-planned, modern casino may fit in well. To begin with, there isn’t anything nearby to compare or compete with it, and it would serve as an excellent attraction all to itself.
A good example of what a project might look like is the Victoria Gate Casino down in Leeds. While that casino provides everything that would be expected, like all the game tables and slots, it also encompasses a much larger variety of entertainment.
From an economic point of view, the casino industry is one that has proven extremely resilient despite all the changes in the world. As the huge, and always-growing, list of casinos at CasinoReviews.com shows, pretty much nothing is capable of slowing down a good casino. It’s not even a regional factor, as the list shows entries from across the world and all-different markets that have not only survived but expanded operations in recent years, proving that it is a stable venture.
Thanks to the region’s cultural heritage, there’s also the option of locally theming the venue. Scottish-themed casinos in general aren’t common, and a high-class, sophisticated place that draws from cultural imagery and names would be unique in a wide area.
Alternative Approaches
Something that has proven to be a success elsewhere, especially with backgrounds in industry or crafts, is the interactive approach. This is something that may already be on the table with the museum reimagining project that you can see over at Reimagined.PaisleyMuseum.org, but having things like workshops and craft schools linked to the fabric trade can both celebrate the heritage of the industry that built the town.
This would expand on the craft days and activities already running in Paisley and transform them into something more formal and more focused. Classes could be in fabric, engineering or in design as all draw from historic trades in the area. Skill preservation courses are becoming ever-more popular, and there are skills specific to Paisley that can be best preserved where they first originated.
The future is looking culturally bright for Paisley and above are just some of the options available to reinvigorate the artistic and entertainment face of the town. While we all wait eagerly to see how the museum project progresses and what it eventually looks like, hopefully, we will start to see many more projects in the works as well.