More work needed at Usher Hall after patch-up job for gala concert

WORK on a new £4 million "arts quarter" outside the Usher Hall will have to restart in the autumn after an 11th-hour patch-up job was ordered with hours to spare before the gala opening concert of the Edinburgh International Festival.

At least five weeks of extra work is expected to be carried out in front of the main entrance to the hall from early September after contractors carrying out landscaping work ran out of time last week. The arts quarter has seen huge stone steps installed and a large traffic-free area created to link the concert venue with the adjacent Traverse and Royal Lyceum theatres.

But a large patch of tarmac had to be rolled out in front of the concert hall, instead of the high-quality concrete setts that management at the venue and Festival organisers had been expecting.

Edinburgh city council, which last week was still insisting the work would be finished, admitted yesterday it was "disappointed" the tarmac had had to be laid in front of the venue and it was not in prime condition.

Senior council officials, who have come under prolonged criticism for their handling of the works, are blaming "unforeseen issues" with utility companies for the latest delay.

Festival organisers last night insisted it was more important the front of the venue had been completely cleared in time for the opening concert last Friday.

It is not yet known how much the latest delay to the troubled 14-year project will end up costing, but the final bill will be more than 40 million.

Usher Hall general manager Karl Chapman said: "Having an area of tarmac outside is not ideal and the work to put in the setts will have to carried out after the Festival. The decision was taken pretty late in the day, but the main thing was to have the front of the venue cleared and open to the public."

The controversial new glass extension to the Usher Hall was unveiled in February, the latest in a string of improvements ordered since part of the main auditorium fell down in the wake of a Tony Bennett concert in 1996. The arts quarter has seen all traffic, including taxis, banned from around the Usher Hall.

A spokeswoman for the EIF said: "Although the work outside is not yet finished, given the size and scale of the work been carried out, we are grateful the works compound is away and there is a clear view of the venue."

Gordon Buchan, Tory culture spokesman on the council, said: "My main concern is how much these latest delays are going to cost and where this money will come from."