What's happening with the old fire station?

[aidanorourke]

I have received a message regarding the old fire station which stands on the other side of London Rd from Piccadilly Station.

It is one of Manchester's most magnificent buildings and yet has stood empty and mostly unused for over two decades.

The message runs roughly as follows:

The building is owned by a hotelier who has been in a stand off with Manchester City Council for years.

He wants to let it run down until the council are forced to give him a grant to renovate it.

The Council have rightly said he should pay for it and there has been a 20 year stand off over it. Last heard there was a compulsory purchase order on it but he is trying to get out of it.In short it would make a great hotel and should be an icon to Manchester not a silly battle. This guy furthermore is worth in excess of £60 million!Any info you can impart would be great. It is upsetting when something like this is not utilised.

Can anyone shed any more light on this?

[jonko]

You should try to contact the Piccadilly Partnership who may have more information on this - if you ain't tryed them already. It was rumoured that one of - or a consortium of their members were interested in developing it. A Cultural centre was once mentioned apparently - but that I fear is some ploy to get the council to join forces with them to buy it back of the current owner in a bid to get it developed, partly as hotel, apartments and a promise of some cultural facilites (token gestures to be used a bribes) in the old fire station sheds. Now, I don't particularly believe that will ever happen (not cause I'm a pessimist) but because if Simpson has anything to do with it he'll want to build 20 floors on top of it and if Argent have anything to do with it, we know it will just become an extention of their London Road develoment mess, which is currently being constructed, incidently partly on what was a nice little garden site. Now, I wonder when will that last green garden get built on of the bottom end of Deansgate. Can't remember it's name, but it'sa very peaceful little spot if you're ever in the area and in search of a bit of peace of quiet - but hurry, the site is prime development land!

[aidanorourke]

I think you're referring to St John's Gardens, off Deansgate. As that is a cemetery and site of a demolished church, I don't think that can be developed... But what about the Wesleyan Cemetery in Cheetham Hill...? I am in general agreement with what you're saying, good to have some robust views, as long as the words are suitable for a general audience.

[Damon]

I passed London Rd Fire Station a good few months ago, and the huge wooden doors opposite picadilly were open. Being "inquisitive", ie nosey, I wandered into the archway for a look. There is an inner palisade style fence/gate which was closed, but it appears the courtyard is being used for storage/distribution. There was a lorry there loading up out of shipping containers.

This truly is one of the most stunning buildings in the city centre. I would dearly love to have a good poke around inside and see what gems from our past are still tucked away in there. Unfortunately I am yet to find any possible way to do this

[Rocles]

There's a nice old photo of London Rd and Fire Station HERE

[samorost]

It's used for storage by, I believe, the Midland Hotel. There has been talk of converting it into a hotel. Photos of current interior here Manchester Exploration

[MobBoss]

What can I add that's not already been said?

I lived there as a boy from birth in 69, until 1974. My old man was a serving fireman there - along with my 3 uncle's. He was the second to last fireman to leave on the final day on moving to Thompson St.

Before it's closure, a series called happy families was filmed there. a true ben Elton & Richard Curtis comedy. Rick Mayall, Ade edmundson, Ben Elton etc were all there for filming.

Back in 1994 I took my Mrs along take have a nosey around. We walked along the first floor balcony and got inside the building. We made our way down the drill tower into the old police station. The cell were in tact with a newspaper on the floor from 1979.

The custody area was untouched. A bit dusty, a bit musty, but in full working order.

(The coroners office was still open when I visited, but I believe that has now moved??)

Made my way round to the offices where the admin area of the station was. Every office on the first and second floor had a firemans pole into the engine house, tucked into the corner of the room surrounded by a big semi circular wooden door.

I made the mistake of sliding down the two poles, only to find the door to the engine house padlocked. It took me 30 mins to 'cling' back up to the office.

It brough back so many memories being there.

Bob Bonner wrote a superb book on the history of London Road.

[Mamucium Son]

Great post, thanks. Love the bit about the 'pole slipup'!

Bob Bonners book. Any more info? I'd like to get hold of that.

[MobBoss]

Originally Posted by Mamucium Son

Great post, thanks. Love the bit about the 'pole slipup'!

Bob Bonners book. Any more info? I'd like to get hold of that.

The book in question is about the old Manchester fire brigade before it became GMC. The book is a fantastic read and has many photos of London Road fire station.

I cannot remember the title, but my old man still has a copy. next time i'm round i'll scan the front cover and bang it on here.

[MobBoss]

Chaps, I have just come back from a complete walkaround of the whole of London road Fire Station.

I wont go into detail of how I got in, but safe to say the site is empty most of the day.

The Engine house still has the pole's in tact, but the whole engine house is full of hotel equipment for Britannia Hotels.

I have 10 videos I took and a couple of pics.

The video of the Police sation cells are pretty good. All the cells are pretty much as they were. One still has the cell door in tact with the key in it

Anyway, my next mission the the underground tunnels in mcr. My old man still have very good connections in GMC Fire Service and they can carry out inspections at any time. They are always unsupervised.

When my dad did it back in the early 70's, he had to sign the secrets act.

Will keep you all informed