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London Road Fire Station (Manchester)
Encyclopedia
London Road Fire Station is a former fire station
in Manchester
, England. It was opened in 1906, on a site bounded by London Road, Whitworth Street
, Minshull Street South and Fairfield Street. Designed by Woodhouse, Willoughby and Langham in red brick and terracotta, it cost £142,000 to build, it was given a Grade II* listed building rating by English Heritage
in 1974.
In addition to a fire station, the building housed a police station, an ambulance station
, a bank, a Coroner's Court, and a gas-meter testing station. The fire station operated for 80 years, housing the firemen, their families, and the horse drawn appliances that were replaced by motorised vehicles a few years after its opening. It was visited by royalty in 1942, in recognition of the brigade's wartime efforts. After the war it became a training centre and in 1952 became the first centre equipped to record emergency calls. However the fire station became expensive to maintain and after council reorganisation decline set in.
The building was the headquarters of the Manchester Fire Brigade until the brigade was replaced by the Greater Manchester Fire Service
in 1974. The fire station closed in 1986, since when it has been largely unused despite several redevelopment proposals. It was placed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register in 2001 and in 2010 Manchester City Council
served a compulsory purchase order
on the fire station's owner, Britannia Hotels
.
and Belfast
, and been referred to as the "architect of the world's fire service" was appointed Chief of the Manchester Fire Brigade and
asked his opinion on the proposal. Parker reported that the site on Newton Street was unsuitable and submitted plans for a fire station on a site bounded by London Road, Whitworth Street
, Minshull Street South and Fairfield Street.
Parker's proposal was for a 7-bay
fire station on a site more than double the size of the one proposed on Newton Street. The choice of London Road was influenced by its proximity to a development of warehouses on Whitworth Street and Princess Street. Parker convinced the city council to choose his proposals rather than those on Newton Street.
A competition, with prizes of £300, £200 and £100 (equivalent to £, £ and £ as of ) was organised to design the new fire station. The competition drew interest from across the country, attracting 25 entries. The winning entry was by John Henry Woodhouse, George Harry Willoughby and John Langham, a team of local architects. Their design was based closely on Parker's initial plans. The fire station was described by Fire Call magazine as "the finest fire station in this round world" before construction started.
The fire station was built between 1904 and 1906 at a cost of £142,000 (equivalent to £ as of ). The building's substructure and foundations were built by C. H. Normanton of Manchester. The superstructure
was built by Gerrard's of Swinton
at a cost of £75,360. It was faced with red brick and terracotta by Burmantofts
, a common choice for early 20th-century buildings in Manchester as it was cleanable and resisted the pollution and acid rain
caused by local industry. Other notable Manchester buildings from this era making use of terracotta include the Midland Hotel, the Refuge Assurance Building
, the University's The Sackville Street Building (formerly known as UMIST
main building) and the Victoria Baths
. The building's exterior featured sculptural
models by John Jarvis Millson representing the functions of the building such as justice, fire and water.
The building had stained glass
windows and the interior was decorated with glazed bricks, similar to other public buildings of this era in the city, such as the Victoria Baths
. The similarities suggest the influence and adoption of a standard design by Henry Price's
newly created City Architect's Department.
on Whitworth Street, an ambulance station on Minshull Street South, a branch of William Deacon's bank
at the corner of London Road and Fairfield Street, a Coroner's Court
, and a gas-meter testing station on London Road. The coroner's court and gas-meter testing station replaced the proposed public library and gym.
The fire station contained flats for 32 firemen and their families and 6 single firemen. Facilities included a laundry, gym, billiards
room and children's play-areas. The complex contained stables for the horses that pulled the fire appliances, and a blacksmith's workshop. There were electric bells and lights to alert firemen to an alarm, poles to expedite the firemen's response, suspended harnesses
to allow the horses to be harnessed quickly, and electric doors. The fire station was also designed with foresight; the appliance bays were made wide enough to take motorised fire appliances. The station's first motorised fire appliance arrived in 1911, five years after it opened.
The building featured a 130 feet (39.6 m) hose tower and a ventilation
system designed by Musgrave and Company to prevent the odour from the horses' stalls entering the firemens' living quarters. Fresh air was drawn in through the top of the fire station's tower, purified and circulated around the building. When the air reached the end of the circuit, in the stalls, it was extracted from the building. The system meant that the air in the building was replaced every 10 minutes.
During the Second World War the basement was converted into an air-raid shelter
and an extension built in the yard to provide more space in the control room. The Fire Service was nationalised in 1941, and London Road became the headquarters of Division C. In recognition of the fire fighters' efforts King George VI
and Queen Elizabeth
visited the fire station in 1942.
After the war the Manchester Fire Brigade was privatised and reorganised. London Road Fire Station was restored as the headquarters of the brigade and became the only fire station serving the city centre. A fire service training centre was established in 1948. At about the same time, the ambulance station closed and was converted into the fire brigade's workshops. The control room was modernised in 1952, becoming the first in the country with equipment to record emergency calls.
The interior of the building was refurbished in 1955. The exterior had been cleaned every year since the fire station opened, and as a result was still in pristine condition when the building celebrated its Golden Jubilee
on 6 October 1956.
.
The building was Grade II* listed in 1974, the same year that the replacement of the Manchester Fire Brigade by the Greater Manchester Fire Service
precipitated the relocation of the brigade's headquarters to a new facility in Swinton
. As part of the reorganisation, London Road became the headquarters of the brigade's "E Division", with the station's control room responsible for two divisions covering the City of Manchester, the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
and Tameside
.
The reorganisation meant the number of appliances was reduced, until only three remained at the station. The control room at London Road closed in 1979, replaced by a single computerised control room at brigade headquarters in Swinton.
In the same year, following the establishment of Greater Manchester Police
and a reorganisation of policing in the city, the police station in the building also closed. The closure left the ground floor on the Whitworth Street side empty. The last tenants of the bank, a firm of solicitor
s, and the fire brigade's workshops, also vacated the building at about the same time.
In 1984 construction work began on a £, 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) replacement in Thompson Street and in 1985 the old London Road Fire Station was brought within the Whitworth Street Conservation Area
. In 1986 the fire service left London Road for its new fire station, London Road Fire Station closed and the building was sold.
In 2001, the building was placed on English Heritage
's Buildings at Risk Register. By 2004 it was in steep decline, and momentum was building for the fire station's owner, Britannia Hotels
, to act.
In February 2006, Argent, developers of nearby Piccadilly, published a proposal to lease the building from Britannia Hotels and transform it into a music and arts venue. Under the proposals the building would have contained recording studios, a private club, a music academy, a 100-bed boutique hotel
and an archive. Manchester City Council
backed the plans and refused to rule out a compulsory purchase order
(CPO) if the owner did not act to redevelop the building.
Britannia Hotels branded Argent's plans "unworkable" and made a counter-proposal to turn the building into a company headquarters, 200-bed hotel, and fire station museum. A planning application was promised by March 2006, but by May none had been made. After meetings between the city council and Britannia Hotels, work was carried out by February 2007 to make the building watertight, and in autumn 2007 a further general proposal was made by Britannia to convert the building into a hotel.
In July 2008, Britannia Hotels appointed Purcell Miller Tritton
to draw up plans to convert the building into a hotel but none had been produced by May 2009. Although an application was promised by the end of October 2009, the city council had lost faith in Britannia Hotels' commitment to redevelopment of the site.
The city council was concerned that the state of the fire station was limiting further regeneration of the Piccadilly area, a problem magnified by a proposed government complex dubbed "Whitehall
of the North
" on the former Mayfield Railway Station site
and a reconfiguration of Manchester Piccadilly railway station. The run-down fire station would be the first impression of Manchester for many visitors, therefore the city council set a deadline of July 2009 for further progress on redevelopment.
Britannia Hotels produced another proposal in July 2009 to convert the fire station into a hotel, featuring a 15-storey tower in the courtyard. Britannia promised a planning application by the end of October 2009, but when the October deadline passed with no application having been submitted the city council's Chief Executive recommended issuing a CPO to allow the building to be redeveloped by another developer. A subsequent meeting of the city council on 27 January 2010 approved a request by the council executive for up to £5.25 million to cover the costs associated with the fire station's acquisition. Britannia Hotels responded by pledging to make a new proposal by February 2010, rendering the CPO unnecessary.
Britannia eventually submitted a planning application to turn the fire station into a 227-bed 4-star hotel, in June 2010. In July 2010, Britannia's plan won the support of The Victorian Society
, which praised the proposed conversion; Manchester City Council responded that its intention was to continue with the CPO. Reports suggested that the council was preparing to serve the order on 22 June 2010 if Britannia had not made significant progress in making the building watertight by 11 June 2010. The city council issued a CPO on 5 August 2010.
Despite Britannia's plans being approved by the Planning and Highways Committee on 16 September 2010, the council continued to pursue a CPO. The council started to solicit bids for a development partner for the building in January 2011. However, Britannia's objection to the CPO led to a public inquiry
in April 20011. On 29 November 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government
confirmed that as a result of the public inquiry, the CPO had been rejected.
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England. It was opened in 1906, on a site bounded by London Road, Whitworth Street
Whitworth Street
Whitworth Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between London Road and Oxford Street . West of Oxford Street it becomes Whitworth Street West which then goes as far as Deansgate . It was opened in 1899 and is lined with many large and grand warehouses. It is named after the engineer...
, Minshull Street South and Fairfield Street. Designed by Woodhouse, Willoughby and Langham in red brick and terracotta, it cost £142,000 to build, it was given a Grade II* listed building rating by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
in 1974.
In addition to a fire station, the building housed a police station, an ambulance station
Ambulance station
An ambulance station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of ambulance vehicles, medical equipment, personal protective equipment, and other medical supplies. Most stations are made up of garage bays or a parking area, normally undercover...
, a bank, a Coroner's Court, and a gas-meter testing station. The fire station operated for 80 years, housing the firemen, their families, and the horse drawn appliances that were replaced by motorised vehicles a few years after its opening. It was visited by royalty in 1942, in recognition of the brigade's wartime efforts. After the war it became a training centre and in 1952 became the first centre equipped to record emergency calls. However the fire station became expensive to maintain and after council reorganisation decline set in.
The building was the headquarters of the Manchester Fire Brigade until the brigade was replaced by the Greater Manchester Fire Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service covers an area of approximately...
in 1974. The fire station closed in 1986, since when it has been largely unused despite several redevelopment proposals. It was placed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register in 2001 and in 2010 Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
served a compulsory purchase order
Compulsory purchase order
A compulsory purchase order is a legal function in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that allows certain bodies which need to obtain land or property to do so without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for public betterment - for...
on the fire station's owner, Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a United Kingdom based hotel company with 37 hotels across the country. Britannia operates at the budget end of the market, with hotels varying in price and star ratings around the country...
.
Construction
In 1897, the Manchester Watch Committee was considering a replacement for its fire station on Jackson's Row. A five-man sub-committee was set up and recommended a site on Newton Street. In 1899, George William Parker who had designed fire stations in BootleBootle
Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...
and Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, and been referred to as the "architect of the world's fire service" was appointed Chief of the Manchester Fire Brigade and
asked his opinion on the proposal. Parker reported that the site on Newton Street was unsuitable and submitted plans for a fire station on a site bounded by London Road, Whitworth Street
Whitworth Street
Whitworth Street is a street in Manchester, England. It runs between London Road and Oxford Street . West of Oxford Street it becomes Whitworth Street West which then goes as far as Deansgate . It was opened in 1899 and is lined with many large and grand warehouses. It is named after the engineer...
, Minshull Street South and Fairfield Street.
Parker's proposal was for a 7-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
fire station on a site more than double the size of the one proposed on Newton Street. The choice of London Road was influenced by its proximity to a development of warehouses on Whitworth Street and Princess Street. Parker convinced the city council to choose his proposals rather than those on Newton Street.
A competition, with prizes of £300, £200 and £100 (equivalent to £, £ and £ as of ) was organised to design the new fire station. The competition drew interest from across the country, attracting 25 entries. The winning entry was by John Henry Woodhouse, George Harry Willoughby and John Langham, a team of local architects. Their design was based closely on Parker's initial plans. The fire station was described by Fire Call magazine as "the finest fire station in this round world" before construction started.
The fire station was built between 1904 and 1906 at a cost of £142,000 (equivalent to £ as of ). The building's substructure and foundations were built by C. H. Normanton of Manchester. The superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
was built by Gerrard's of Swinton
Swinton, Greater Manchester
Swinton is a town within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located on the A6 road it stands on gently sloping ground on the southwest side of the River Irwell, and within the bounds of the orbital M60 motorway. It is west-northwest of Salford, and west-northwest of Manchester...
at a cost of £75,360. It was faced with red brick and terracotta by Burmantofts
Burmantofts Pottery
Burmantofts Pottery was the common trading name of a manufacturer of ceramic pipes and construction materials, named after the Burmantofts district of Leeds, England....
, a common choice for early 20th-century buildings in Manchester as it was cleanable and resisted the pollution and acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
caused by local industry. Other notable Manchester buildings from this era making use of terracotta include the Midland Hotel, the Refuge Assurance Building
Refuge Assurance Building
The Refuge Assurance Building, now the Palace Hotel or Refuge Building, stands at the corner of Oxford Street and Whitworth Street in Manchester, England....
, the University's The Sackville Street Building (formerly known as UMIST
UMIST
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research...
main building) and the Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths is a Grade II* listed building, situated in the Chorlton-upon-Medlock area of Manchester, in northwest England. The building is currently on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register....
. The building's exterior featured sculptural
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
models by John Jarvis Millson representing the functions of the building such as justice, fire and water.
The building had stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows and the interior was decorated with glazed bricks, similar to other public buildings of this era in the city, such as the Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths
Victoria Baths is a Grade II* listed building, situated in the Chorlton-upon-Medlock area of Manchester, in northwest England. The building is currently on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register....
. The similarities suggest the influence and adoption of a standard design by Henry Price's
Henry Price (architect)
John Henry Price – more commonly referred to as Henry Price – was the first person to hold the office of 'City Architect' in Manchester Corporation's newly created City Architect's Department of 1902...
newly created City Architect's Department.
Operation
The building was opened on 27 September 1906 by the Lord Mayor of Manchester James Herbert Thewlis. In addition to the fire station, the building housed a police stationPolice station
A police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
on Whitworth Street, an ambulance station on Minshull Street South, a branch of William Deacon's bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
at the corner of London Road and Fairfield Street, a Coroner's Court
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
, and a gas-meter testing station on London Road. The coroner's court and gas-meter testing station replaced the proposed public library and gym.
The fire station contained flats for 32 firemen and their families and 6 single firemen. Facilities included a laundry, gym, billiards
Billiards
Cue sports , also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with a cue stick which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded by rubber .Historically, the umbrella term was billiards...
room and children's play-areas. The complex contained stables for the horses that pulled the fire appliances, and a blacksmith's workshop. There were electric bells and lights to alert firemen to an alarm, poles to expedite the firemen's response, suspended harnesses
Horse harness
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....
to allow the horses to be harnessed quickly, and electric doors. The fire station was also designed with foresight; the appliance bays were made wide enough to take motorised fire appliances. The station's first motorised fire appliance arrived in 1911, five years after it opened.
The building featured a 130 feet (39.6 m) hose tower and a ventilation
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...
system designed by Musgrave and Company to prevent the odour from the horses' stalls entering the firemens' living quarters. Fresh air was drawn in through the top of the fire station's tower, purified and circulated around the building. When the air reached the end of the circuit, in the stalls, it was extracted from the building. The system meant that the air in the building was replaced every 10 minutes.
During the Second World War the basement was converted into an air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelter
Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...
and an extension built in the yard to provide more space in the control room. The Fire Service was nationalised in 1941, and London Road became the headquarters of Division C. In recognition of the fire fighters' efforts King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
visited the fire station in 1942.
After the war the Manchester Fire Brigade was privatised and reorganised. London Road Fire Station was restored as the headquarters of the brigade and became the only fire station serving the city centre. A fire service training centre was established in 1948. At about the same time, the ambulance station closed and was converted into the fire brigade's workshops. The control room was modernised in 1952, becoming the first in the country with equipment to record emergency calls.
The interior of the building was refurbished in 1955. The exterior had been cleaned every year since the fire station opened, and as a result was still in pristine condition when the building celebrated its Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
on 6 October 1956.
Decline
By the end of the 1960s maintenance was becoming increasingly expensive, and the building's design ill-suited to modern fire appliances. Plans to replace the fire station were put on hold pending the formation of the Greater Manchester Fire ServiceGreater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service covers an area of approximately...
.
The building was Grade II* listed in 1974, the same year that the replacement of the Manchester Fire Brigade by the Greater Manchester Fire Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service covers an area of approximately...
precipitated the relocation of the brigade's headquarters to a new facility in Swinton
Swinton, Greater Manchester
Swinton is a town within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located on the A6 road it stands on gently sloping ground on the southwest side of the River Irwell, and within the bounds of the orbital M60 motorway. It is west-northwest of Salford, and west-northwest of Manchester...
. As part of the reorganisation, London Road became the headquarters of the brigade's "E Division", with the station's control room responsible for two divisions covering the City of Manchester, the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in north west England, centred around the town of Stockport. It has a population of about 280,600 and includes the outyling areas of Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Bredbury, Reddish and Romiley...
and Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
.
The reorganisation meant the number of appliances was reduced, until only three remained at the station. The control room at London Road closed in 1979, replaced by a single computerised control room at brigade headquarters in Swinton.
In the same year, following the establishment of Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
and a reorganisation of policing in the city, the police station in the building also closed. The closure left the ground floor on the Whitworth Street side empty. The last tenants of the bank, a firm of solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s, and the fire brigade's workshops, also vacated the building at about the same time.
In 1984 construction work began on a £, 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) replacement in Thompson Street and in 1985 the old London Road Fire Station was brought within the Whitworth Street Conservation Area
Conservation Area (United Kingdom)
In the United Kingdom, the term Conservation Area nearly always applies to an area considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest, "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance," as required by the Planning ...
. In 1986 the fire service left London Road for its new fire station, London Road Fire Station closed and the building was sold.
Dereliction and redevelopment
After the sale the building was mainly used for storage whilst planning applications to convert it into a hotel were made in 1986, 1993, and 2001, with varying degrees of success. The Coroner's Court was the last to vacate the premises, in 1998.In 2001, the building was placed on English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
's Buildings at Risk Register. By 2004 it was in steep decline, and momentum was building for the fire station's owner, Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels
Britannia Hotels is a United Kingdom based hotel company with 37 hotels across the country. Britannia operates at the budget end of the market, with hotels varying in price and star ratings around the country...
, to act.
In February 2006, Argent, developers of nearby Piccadilly, published a proposal to lease the building from Britannia Hotels and transform it into a music and arts venue. Under the proposals the building would have contained recording studios, a private club, a music academy, a 100-bed boutique hotel
Boutique hotel
Boutique hotel is a term popularized in North America and the United Kingdom to describe intimate, usually luxurious or unique hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain/branded hotels and motels by providing personalized accommodation and services / facilities...
and an archive. Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
backed the plans and refused to rule out a compulsory purchase order
Compulsory purchase order
A compulsory purchase order is a legal function in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland that allows certain bodies which need to obtain land or property to do so without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for public betterment - for...
(CPO) if the owner did not act to redevelop the building.
Britannia Hotels branded Argent's plans "unworkable" and made a counter-proposal to turn the building into a company headquarters, 200-bed hotel, and fire station museum. A planning application was promised by March 2006, but by May none had been made. After meetings between the city council and Britannia Hotels, work was carried out by February 2007 to make the building watertight, and in autumn 2007 a further general proposal was made by Britannia to convert the building into a hotel.
In July 2008, Britannia Hotels appointed Purcell Miller Tritton
Purcell Miller Tritton
Purcell Miller Tritton is an award-winning limited liability partnership of architects, designers and historic building consultants. Founded in 1947, they work on notable public and private buildings in the United Kingdom and beyond, including the National Gallery, London, Westminster Abbey, St...
to draw up plans to convert the building into a hotel but none had been produced by May 2009. Although an application was promised by the end of October 2009, the city council had lost faith in Britannia Hotels' commitment to redevelopment of the site.
The city council was concerned that the state of the fire station was limiting further regeneration of the Piccadilly area, a problem magnified by a proposed government complex dubbed "Whitehall
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
of the North
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
" on the former Mayfield Railway Station site
Manchester Mayfield railway station
Manchester Mayfield is a former railway station in Manchester, England. It is located on the south side of Fairfield Street, next to Manchester Piccadilly station.- Use as a passenger station :...
and a reconfiguration of Manchester Piccadilly railway station. The run-down fire station would be the first impression of Manchester for many visitors, therefore the city council set a deadline of July 2009 for further progress on redevelopment.
Britannia Hotels produced another proposal in July 2009 to convert the fire station into a hotel, featuring a 15-storey tower in the courtyard. Britannia promised a planning application by the end of October 2009, but when the October deadline passed with no application having been submitted the city council's Chief Executive recommended issuing a CPO to allow the building to be redeveloped by another developer. A subsequent meeting of the city council on 27 January 2010 approved a request by the council executive for up to £5.25 million to cover the costs associated with the fire station's acquisition. Britannia Hotels responded by pledging to make a new proposal by February 2010, rendering the CPO unnecessary.
Britannia eventually submitted a planning application to turn the fire station into a 227-bed 4-star hotel, in June 2010. In July 2010, Britannia's plan won the support of The Victorian Society
The Victorian Society
The Victorian Society is the national charity responsible for the study and protection of Victorian and Edwardian architecture and other arts in Britain....
, which praised the proposed conversion; Manchester City Council responded that its intention was to continue with the CPO. Reports suggested that the council was preparing to serve the order on 22 June 2010 if Britannia had not made significant progress in making the building watertight by 11 June 2010. The city council issued a CPO on 5 August 2010.
Despite Britannia's plans being approved by the Planning and Highways Committee on 16 September 2010, the council continued to pursue a CPO. The council started to solicit bids for a development partner for the building in January 2011. However, Britannia's objection to the CPO led to a public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
in April 20011. On 29 November 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
confirmed that as a result of the public inquiry, the CPO had been rejected.