New chairman wants to widen Pavilion's appeal

Lawyer Steve Williams wants the pavilion to offer a broad range of experience so that the public can "tune in" to the activity they like.

The new chairman and his equally new-look board were welcomed at a celebration at the pavilion on Monday at which outgoing chairman Dr Richard Sykes spoke of his satisfaction at the progress the pavilion has made in his six years of office.

Dr Sykes told the Observer: "I think the greatest satisfaction for me is the fact that between the Bexhill and Rother community and the team here at the pavilion and the Arts Council we have now got a pavilion that is vibrant and financially secure and a self-sustaining business, partly private and partly public."

Asked if there was a defining moment that he would treasure, he said: "I think it was a Saturday early this year when the opening of the Grayson Perry exhibition was at lunch-time and there was a queue waiting to get in and we had a big crowd for the public opening.

"The pavilion, without getting any less busy, saw a sudden morphing of people as others came into the building for the musical group The Fall.

"The place was packed from 11am until 11pm."

Dr Sykes said the pavilion had taken a day a week of his time and he had told the board at the last annual meeting that he intended to stand down in 2008.

"We have reached the point where the capital raised has been well spent and the pavilion is on a financially stable footing. I thought it was a good time to move on and let a new band of players take the lead."

Dr Sykes told Monday's audience that the pavilion was like an aircraft which had reached cruising altitude.

He said the new board had a good mix of national, regional and local players.

Steve Williams told his fellow trustees and guests that London, San Francisco or Berlin would be proud to have the De La Warr Pavilion as an asset.