BaR News Round Up November 2023

This month sees the addition of 18 buildings in Manchester, Rochdale and Oldham to the online Buildings at Risk Register following the publication of our newest report Boom not Bust: How Manchester can build the future without destroying its past. Meanwhile our register update work in the East and South East of England has revealed a range of stories from the inspiring revival of the Observer Building in Hastings, East Sussex and the promising beginnings of the project to restore the former Town Hall in Lowestoft, Suffolk, to the demolition threat to the Art Deco fronted Regent Cinema in Deal, Kent.

New Additions to the register 

The 18 new buildings that we have added to the register in Manchester, Oldham and Rochdale were all identified as being under threat by SAVE during the research for our newest report, Boom not Bust: How Greater Manchester can build the future without destroying its past.

The buildings include former theatres, churches, bars, industrial buildings including weavers’ workshops and a ‘ragged school’. All are at risk of dereliction or demolition, avoidable outcomes which would rob their communities of local landmarks that connect them to their past and which hold the key to economic and social revival if restored and reused.

Click here to read the full list. Further detail can be found in the individual entries on the online Buildings at Risk Register which is available to Friends of SAVE. 

Update news

Observer Building, 53 Cambridge Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 1DT: A locally significant building standing in a prominent position in a central conservation area, this entry has been on our register since 2008.  Designed by local architect Henry Ward in 1924, this concrete Art Deco building used to be the home of the Hastings and St Leonard's Observer newspaper. It had been unoccupied for over 20 years and had passed between various developers.  It had been subject to numerous planning applications including for demolition after its increasingly shabby state fuelled calls for its replacement.

A new planning application was submitted in May 2020 for the conversion of the building into a mixed-use development with retail, office space, a gym and 15 apartments.  Work was still ongoing at the time of our 2022 update but now the building is complete and open. This is a fantastic success story, after many years of false starts.  Hastings Commons acquired the building with a loan from the Ecology Building Society and have created a community focussed co-working space and venue with space taken by other businesses.  Click here to read more about this inspiring story.

Town Hall, High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 1HR:  The Town Hall, prominently located on the High Street, is grade II listed and stands on a site which has been in use as a civic building and place of worship for hundreds of years. The present building was built in 1857-1860 to the designs of J L Clemence, a noted local architect.

The Town Hall has been empty since 2015 and had been identified as a key building to boost the regeneration in this part of Lowestoft. Its location in a Heritage Action Zone has facilitated a focussed approach to finding solutions for its future and it has been the recipient of various grants from a number of sources in order to enable feasibility and preparatory work to take place.  It was therefore wonderful to hear the announcement in September 2023 that the Town Hall project has received over £3 million National Lottery Heritage Fund money to "establish a community venue to engage local people, improve residents’ lives and transform the town’s historic heart."  A very positive development!  We will report on the progress of the project through our updates of the register.

Regent Cinema, Beach Street, Deal, Kent, CT14 7BP:  The Regent in Deal is a seaside entertainment venue that has a fascinating history.  The distinctive Art Deco façade which was built in 1933 disguises the original building on the site. Built in 1928, the Pavilion, a structure of iron and glass, was designed to allow live performances by military bands and other music and theatrical entertainments undercover. When the popularity of these shows waned, the existing structure was converted to use as a cinema. Cinema use continued until 1963 when Bingo took over. The bingo hall closed in 2009 and the building was acquired in 2011 but has stood disused since then.

The granting of planning permission in the summer of 2019 for the conversion of the building to a two-screen cinema and restaurant was greeted with approval and enthusiasm from all sides.  Despite not being nationally listed it is a hugely popular and well-known building and amenity.  

In June this year proposals were put out for public consultation which would involve the complete demolition of this treasured cinema only to replace it with a small replica cinema - and housing. A replica of the current Art Deco facade would be a feature of the scheme. Click here to see the public consultation videos prepared by the consultation consultants for the developers which is now closed.

The campaign group, Reopen the Regent, which has championed the cinema from the point at which it was sold by the council, are against the loss of this public cultural amenity and replacement by a small, 49 seat cinema.  The Deal Society are also against the proposals in their current form but accept that some losses may be necessary in the interests of viability. SAVE intend to comment on any planning proposals that are formally lodged to make the case for the retention of as much of this fascinating building as is possible.