Report in The Oxford Times, 9th March 2001
The Bodleian Library's plan to create a new entrance for paying visitors will be met by fierce opposition on Oxford city council planning committee.
Counsellors say they have been taken aback by the University's desire to close off the historic Bodleian Quad. The University will be asked to justify its plan to cut a doorway through the Library's Great Gate, a key part of the scheme to attract more paying visitors. One senior member of the planning committee said that knocking a hole into the Great Gate amounted to "desecration".
Planning committee chairman Mr John Goddard has made clear his personal opposition to the plan. He warned the University: "I am going to take a lot of convincing about the need to make a hole in this building. I feel this structure should be treated with a great deal more respect. Even from the point of view of managing visitor flow, the scheme does not appear to work." Mr Goddard said he was surprised to learn from last week's Oxford Times that the Old Quad would be effectively shut off. If the plans were approved, paying customers would only be able to enter through a new entrance in the Great Gate, leading to the visitors' centre. Mr Goddard said: "It seems what is being proposed is to shut off the Quad unless you pay. Turning it into an enclave that people have to pay to enter would be a great pity."
The Bodleian Library is now planning to display its plans for a visitor centre in the town hall. It has already applied for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. Library Secretary Mr Steve Waterman said Oxfordshire residents would be able to apply for free passes to visit the Quad. But he confirmed passages linking Broad Street and Radcliffe Square across the Bodleian complex would probably be closed between 10am and 6pm. The Great Gate, which overlooks the Bodleian Quad, dates from 1610.
This vandalism, apart from anything else, gives the lie to OUP's trumpeted £30 million Bodley 'donation' of July 1999 (see The Times 17/7/99 and Oxford Times 30/3/01). - A. M.
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