DO any readers remember, or were any of them members of, the Barbican Board?

This was some two dozen mainly York residents invited to form a small group by the then socialist York City Council, to observe and follow the progress of the building and opening of the Barbican Centre.

With Margaret Thatcher doing her "there is no such thing as society" and opposing all civic projects as white elephants and the slavish following of the then York Tory councillors of the day, who predicted financial ruin for the city, as potential supporters we were invited to see the building work in progress and attended the opening night.

I think we all felt very positive and enthusiastic about what would be a fantastic facility for York people of all ages, offering a wide range of life-enhancing activities.

What we weren't told was that this whole exercise would end after 20 years or so mainly due to failing heating systems and general infrastructure deterioration.

Add to this a change in political will, public/private partnerships and local residents concerned they aren't going to have some hugely disruptive complex imposed upon them and we are left with an embarrassing, deteriorating time-capsule doing nothing as all relevant parties - council, developers, local community argue with each other and the general health of York residents continues to deteriorate.

Much of what the Barbican provided could not be actually "assessed".

Every day hundreds and hundreds of us enjoyed and were energised by swimming, badminton, live music, climbing, gymnastics, comedy, dance, weight training, saunas etc, etc.

I'd be interested to know (if anybody does know) if the Barbican broke even, made a profit or just soaked up ongoing subsidies.

If a political party were to stand on an aggressive and imaginative campaign to reopen the Barbican as a resource for us all they would get my vote.

Jonathan Charles Bonner, Huntington Road, York.