Welsh language activists fear for the future of Tŷ’r Cymry, a Welsh Language Centre in Roath, after the owners decided to sell the building.
For more than 75 years Tŷ’r Cymry has been the centre point for cultural and political organizations in Wales including Plaid Cymru, The Urdd and UCAC.
Over the weekend a group of campaigners met with the three trustees with proposed plans and ideas of what could be done to revamp the place. However, despite these efforts the trustees have decided that selling the premises was the best option.
Steve Blundell Chair of the local branch of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg said “I’m really disappointed that Cardiff might be robbed of a fantastic facility that has a great potential and history. It feels like a remarkable and unjustifiable decision. For something that’s been gifted to the population, for it just to be sold off like this is a crying shame.”
The house was gifted to the Welsh speaking community of Cardiff by Lewis Williams, a farmer from the Vale of Glamorgan, in 1936. The Victorian building, located on Gordon Street, has Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Gymraeg operating the second floor and a Welsh medium on nursery on the bottom floor.
The historical significance of the building is important to campaigners who went to develop it.
However, Wil Rees, Plaid Cymru candidate for Cardiff Central, says that the owners are right to sell the building and should set up a centre at more appropriate location in the city.
He says “People need to consider the practicality of Ty’r Cymry’s location. Selling the building will give Tŷ’r Cymry more money in order to invest that money in a more practical location elsewhere in Cardiff.”
Rhys ab Owen, who chaired a public meeting into the future of the premises in January, said that the intention of the owners is to sell the house and consider other options including investing in a new location.
As the door closes on Ty’r Cymry, the question now is can the spirit of this historic building live on elsewhere in the city?