A Liverpool University graduation was disrupted on Friday morning due to people being evacuated.
In a tweet today a spokesperson for The University of Liverpool said the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre on the corner of Grove Street and Oxford Street was evacuated as a "precaution" due to "smell of gas outside" the building. The spokesperson also apologised for "disruption" of a graduation which was happening this morning.
They said they were "working hard" to resolve this. The full statement said: "Due to a smell of gas outside the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, the building has been temporarily evacuated for precaution. We are very sorry for the disruption to this morning's graduation ceremony and we’re working hard to resolve this. As soon as we have more info we'll update you."
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The Yoko Ono Lennon Centre was opened by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean Ono Lennon on Friday, March 25. The building was described as a new "world class" culture centre, which will house teaching facilities and the Tung Auditorium - the University 's state-of-the-art 400 seat concert hall.
The auditorium opened with a gala held in Yoko Ono Lennon's honour. When the new building's name was announced, Yoko Ono Lennon said: “I am thrilled to be recognised with the naming of the new performance centre at the University of Liverpool. Thank you to the University and to the people of Liverpool for this wonderful honour.
"Liverpool has become part of me from years of going there, and with this new centre part of me will always be there – for that I’m very thankful. I think John is smiling about it too. I’m also very thankful that our son, Sean is there in Liverpool for the celebrations around the opening.”
Sean Ono Lennon added: “They used to say behind every great man was a great woman. But my parents famously stood beside each other as equals. It is a beautiful statement that the University of Liverpool would recognise my mother in this way. In a city synonymous with my father’s achievements it is especially meaningful to acknowledge Yoko Ono for the remarkable human being that she is. I’m just really chuffed to be here.”
The centre includes the 600-seat Paul Brett Lecture Theatre and the Tung Auditorium, a 400-seat acoustically optimised, flexible, music performance space, designed for solo, chamber, choral and orchestral performances, with adjustable acoustics to accommodate a wide variety of jazz, folk, pop, electro-acoustic and experimental music. Yoko Ono Lennon’s Wish Tree installation will be found in the Peace Atrium, and the Fröhlich Café Bar will be open to the public.
