Festival Finish
There is no possible measure by which the success or failure of the Festival of Britain can be measured. The financial balance is largely made up of imponderables, and the balance of enjoy- ment is a personal matter to be assessed separately by each individual, family, village or town. What can suitably be made a subject for debate is the legacy which the Festival leaves ; and for most people this general problem is synonymous with a particular question—what is to become of the South Bank site ? To a certain extent its fate is already decided. Blocks of Government offices are to be erected in the section west of Hungerford Bridge, and a National Theatre is to be built along- side the completed Festival Hall. But nobody can say when these developments are likely to take place, and meanwhile something will have to be done with the site. The immediate question is whether any of the Festival buildings on South Bank can be preserved, and, if so, what their function should be ; it would be folly to make their temporary nature an excuse for removing them before anything has been prepared to take their place. What must be avoided at all costs is allowing South Bank to decline into chaos.
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