Calls for progress at a landmark Nottingham building are growing after plans to demolish it were dramatically halted. Developers had planned to demolish the former central police and fire station, which fronts Shakespeare Street, North Church Street and South Sherwood Street, and replace it with a more than 900-bed student scheme.
The scheme was recommended for approval ahead of Nottingham City Council's planning committee on January 18, but was withdrawn shortly before going before councillors, as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had given the 1930s building Grade-II listed status. This afforded it greater protection under planning rules, halting the plans to demolish the building and bringing its future into uncertainty.
More than four months since the plans for the station were pulled from the city council committee, a spokesperson for Vita Group confirmed there was no update on the plans for the building. This has resulted in calls for fresh ideas on how to use the prominent building to be devised, including from Historic England, which had advised DCMS to recognise the historic and architectural value of the structure previously.
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A Historic England spokesperson said: “The listing of the former police headquarters and central fire station in Nottingham at Grade II does not mean that the building cannot be adapted and re-used, and Nottingham is full of listed buildings that continue to enrich the character of the city centre whilst providing a wide range of new uses."
The public body added: "We would be delighted to have discussions with the city council and any interested development partners about the future re-use of this listed building.”
The police and fire station buildings originally opened in the 1940s and were designed to be bomb-proof. The station was sold off after being declared financially unviable in 2013 by then Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping.
The landmark's list entry describes the building as an "impressive and well-realised design" with "subtle detailing and occasional flourishes" including striking Art Deco corner entrance bays with ornamented doorways and emblematic carved figures. Despite it being in use until relatively recently, the building has retained many of its original fixtures and fittings, with its internal decorative finishes said to be of "particular quality".
Hilary Silvester, executive chair of Nottingham Civic Society, explained she thought it would be possible to convert the former station. "It is something we have been thinking about. I think there are possibilities, I don't think it is impossible to re-use," Ms Silvester said.
"There's quite a bit of importance in the interior which helped get it listed - in the police station side there are some nice Art Deco fittings that are still there. Obviously we would want to keep those.
"The ground floor, where the old fire station doors are, I would have thought they would be able to do something like a café or restaurant, or open air market. It is very near to Nottingham Trent University so there could be various things they could use it for."
Ms Silvester said the civic society would welcome being involved in any discussions on the future of the building in order to speed up its re-use. "I think the fire station is manageable enough to not require huge alterations, it is of concern that it is just standing there sadly boarded up at the moment.
"There is a rear courtyard which was the police car park and we have said we have no objection to them developing a building behind it. It is time that people came up with ideas for its re-use - it is far better surely to repurpose a building rather than demolish it."
The two planned buildings would have varied in height from seven to 12-storeys, with a residents’ hub, communal facilities, and a ground floor public food hall inside. The developer had previously applied to drive through a piling column through the 150-year-old cave network underneath the site to support one of the new buildings.
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