Liverpool's Grand Central Hall was a former church designed in such an attractive way it would pack in the punters.
Yesterday, the Liverpool Echo published a story on how the historic city centre venue had closed its doors over alleged £1.2m rent arrears. Reports are the locks on the building have now been changed by the landlords, meaning tenants no longer have access and planned upcoming concerts will not take place.
Following the ECHO's initial report on the issue, the building's tenants released a statement confirming the closure, but claiming they had instigated court proceedings against the landlords themselves. In a statement on Twitter, Grand Central Hall confirmed the closure of Grand Central Hall, including the Liffey pub.
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The Grade II listed building on Renshaw Street in the city centre dates back to 1905 when it began life as a grand Methodist church. It was one of 99 central halls commissioned by the church to be built that were to act as more than just a place of worship.
The building of the attractive halls was designed to entice the religiously indifferent and economically disadvantaged. They were to be centres of civic life, not just for worship but places for entertainment, leisure and education that could seat large congregations in their thousands.
Following plans to move into a newly built church in Liverpool city centre, the site on Renshaw Street was chosen and the chapel which already stood on it was demolished ready for the new development. The bodies which resided in the old chapel graveyard were exhumed and a monument erected in the centre of the newly sculpted gardens.
This monument still stands and is decorated with plaques which contain information about the chapel that once stood at the front of the site. One plaque is dedicated to William Roscoe MP - a central figure in the abolition of slavery - after whom the gardens are named.
It's been reported that the new Grand Central Hall building was designed "as a new kind of church," intended to look "more like a department store" with the ground floor intended to be used to contain sub-let shops or other businesses. Built to an Art Nouveau design by Bradshaw and Gass of Bolton, the building had a reported capacity for over 3,500 people and was also used from its opening until at least 1944 as the New Century Picture Hall cinema.
From 1933 to 1939, following a devastating fire that destroyed the original Philharmonic Hall, the building became home to the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra while the Philharmonic Hall was rebuilt. Central Hall was sold by the Methodists in 1990 and major restoration work was undertaken in the late 90s.
In the early 2000s, the building became home to the Barcelona Bar, and following the closure of Quiggins on School Lane in 2006, a number of the traders relocated to the Grand Central Hall. In 2007, Roscoe Hall on the first floor opened with many new shops, and in 2011, an impressive performance space opened in the domed area of the building. Known as 'The Dome', the space has a capacity of 1,200 and has been used to host many film, theatre and music events.
More changes for Grand Central Hall took place in 2018 when the building was taken over by a new owner who completely redeveloped the hall, basements and upper floors. The work integrated a hotel with bars, live music and event spaces, and a number of restaurants which made up the food hall called The Grand Bazaar.
