The latest attempt is here by the owners of the dilapidated Victorian Crown Theatre in Eccles to get some building moving on the rubbish and rubble-strewn site.
New plans have been submitted to Salford City Council and the design isn’t exactly wowing the local community.
The last set of plans from October 2015 show developer Foregate Limited’s idea to demolish the entire theatre building – including the Grade II-listed frontage.
The once-grand Crown Theatre in Eccles
In place of the former 2,500-seater theatre, on a one-way street in the middle of a residential area, they wanted to build 95 flats with only 44 car parking spaces.
Eccles Crown Theatre: New plans to knock down historic Salford building for 95 flats, shop and ‘community space’
For anyone who lives near to Mather Road, it was obvious this wasn’t going to work.
The team at Indigo Planning have been back to the drawing board and the developers have now cut the number of prospective flats from 95 to 72.
You can view the full plans on the Salford City Council website: search 16/68464/FUL
There’s internal courtyards on the first and second floors.
But one of the biggest sticking points here is parking.
On these plans there’s only 35 car parking spaces and five disabled car parking spaces. That’s four less than in the last plans.
Foregate suggest that to combat the problem, only certain flats will be sold with parking spaces.
89 cycle racks will be provided. But the car parking is still a big problem.
Part of the plans include two ground floor units designed to placate the local community “which are likely to provide community uses or services, enhancing the availability of local facilities”.
It’s been suggested that local community and voluntary groups or dementia services could use the space, but any developments on that front are a long way off.
Plans now: Ground floor ‘community space’ with flats above
Design-wise, it’s three storeys high at the back of the building, rising to seven storeys high as it faces Liverpool Road.
A somewhat over-ambitious Planning Statement says “the building references the form and proportion of the existing bingo hall but is not intended to
create a pastiche of the original building. Instead it is intended to provide a scheme with significant architectural quality and individuality to match the uniqueness of the area and to be worthy of replacing the existing Listed Building.”
There does not appear to be anything in these plans which saves or retains any of the Crown Theatre.
If it comes to the building stage, there may be a sop from developers to history-lovers in the community in naming the building after the theatre, or erecting a plaque, but that looks to be about the extent of what they’re planning.
Three storeys rise to seven with roof terrace overlooking Eccles Rec
There are still no plans to provide any of the flats for affordable rent or sale.
Foregate’s Viability Assessment “finds that it is not viable to provide affordable housing”, and to the “costs of retaining the historic building or façade. None are viable.”
Normally Salford Council would insist on 20% affordable housing – some 19 flats here.
Finding enough parking still a big problem in this part of Eccles
This long-running saga around its ownership and future centres on a group of locals who are trying to save and preserve the hundred-plus years of architectural and social history.
Pictures/background: Mural kickstarts Eccles Crown Theatre campaign
Campaigner Jon Grieves, who lives on Mather Road, said: “I can safely say that we all want to see this iconic building saved.
“We have put in 18 months hard work to let the people of Eccles know what they face losing to a developer who intends to turn them into souless flats, purely for profit.
“Our Treasurer, Sue Ness is currently looking at ways to get Lottery funding so we can hopefully purchase this building and not pay a ridiculous price for it.
Interior needs a lot of work
View of the stage from the second floor
Corroded metal in the auditorium
Staircase open to the elements
“We have the backing of local MP’s and councillors and we are determined not to see yet another piece of Eccles architectural heritage go under the demolition hammer.
“I would urge anybody interested to call in at the Nur Malaysia Cafe, on Liverpool Road this Wednesday 20 July to hear our latest plans, and the fight goes on.”
Despite it shaggy appearance, the theatre’s frontage, with its intricate red carvings is Grade II-listed, meaning heritage societies believe it worthy of preservation for its historical value.
Amazingly the timber structures and struts are all undamaged by the ravages of weather.
However the latest prediction by developers is that it’s in danger of falling down in the next six months.
The red-brick building, towering six-storeys over Church Street and Liverpool Road, has been in constant declining repair since it closed in the 1980s.
It opened as The Shakespearean Lyceum Theatre in 1899, converting to a cinema in 1932, then a bingo hall in 1963.
In 2005 it was bought by Geoffrey Klein, a production manager with Paramount Studios, with the intention of converting it into apartments.
Three years later it was sold to Bolton-based Westgate Developments. Nothing has happened since.
Planning documents say: “The applicant has worked hard to secure the site and frequently repairs and enhances site security measures at considerable cost.
“However, it proves very difficult to deter youths and squatters who constantly target the property. As a vacant building, it attracts much anti-social behaviour which is of great concern to local residents and councillors.”
SalfordOnline.com spoke to Councillor Peter Wheeler, the Labour Councillor for Eccles.
He said: “I am extremely upset that that the plans show no affordable housing and that the Grade II-listed frontage may disapoear under the plans.
The only positive thing that I can se is that the number of flats has been reduced from 95 to 72, however this will cause even more parking problems for the residents around Bright Road, Cromwell Road and Mather Road.”
Any objections to the plans must be lodged by 1 August 2016.
Go to the Salford City Council planning website and search application 16/68464/FUL
There is also a 38 Degrees petition to Save The Crown Theatre Eccles.
Residents are meeting to discuss the plans at Nur Malaysia Cafe on Liverpool Road, Eccles, this Wednesday 20 July from 7pm.
