London Road Fire Station, Manchester

London Road Fire Station is a former fire station in Manchester, England. It was opened in 1906,

Construction

In 1897 the Manchester Watch Committee was considering a replacement for its fire station on Jackson's Row. A five-man sub-committee was set up and recommended a site on Newton Street. In 1899, George William Parker, who had designed fire stations in Bootle and Belfast, and been referred to as the "architect of the world's fire service", was appointed Chief of the Manchester Fire Brigade and

asked his opinion on the proposal. Parker reported that the site on Newton Street was unsuitable and submitted plans for a fire station on a site bounded by London Road, Whitworth Street, Minshull Street South and Fairfield Street.

Parker's proposal was for a 7-bay fire station on a site more than double the size of the one proposed on Newton Street. The choice of London Road was influenced by its proximity to a development of warehouses on Whitworth Street and Princess Street. Parker convinced the city council to choose his proposals rather than those on Newton Street. The competition drew interest from across the country, attracting 25 entries. The winning entry was by John Henry Woodhouse, George Harry Willoughby and John Langham, a team of local architects. Their design was based closely on Parker's initial plans. The building's substructure and foundations were built by C. H. Normanton of Manchester. The superstructure was built by Gerrard's of Swinton at a cost of £75,360. The building's exterior featured sculptural models by John Jarvis Millson representing the functions of the building such as justice, fire and water.

The building had stained glass windows and the interior was decorated with glazed bricks, similar to other public buildings of this era in the city, such as the Victoria Baths. The similarities suggest the influence and adoption of a standard design by Henry Price's newly created City Architect's Department.

Operation

thumb|The station's [[coroner's court]]

The building was opened on 27 September 1906 by the Lord Mayor of Manchester James Herbert Thewlis. In addition to the fire station, it housed a police station on Whitworth Street, an ambulance station on Minshull Street South, a branch of Williams Deacon's Bank at the corner of London Road and Fairfield Street, a coroner's court, and a gas-meter testing station on London Road. The coroner's court and gas-meter testing station replaced the proposed public library and gym. There were electric bells and lights to alert firemen to an alarm, poles to expedite the firemen's response, suspended harnesses to allow the horses to be harnessed quickly, and electric doors.

During the Second World War, the basement was converted into an air-raid shelter and an extension built in the yard to provide more space in the control room. The fire services were nationalised in 1941, and London Road became the headquarters of Division C. In recognition of the fire fighters' efforts, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the fire station in 1942. A fire service training centre was established in 1948. At about the same time, the ambulance station closed and was converted into the fire brigade's workshops.

The interior was refurbished in 1955. The exterior had been cleaned every year since the fire station opened, and as a result was in pristine condition when the building celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 6 October 1956.

Decline

thumb|upright|left|A [[relief panel above London Road entrance, representing fire the same year that the replacement of the Manchester Fire Brigade by the Greater Manchester Fire Service precipitated the relocation of the brigade's headquarters to a new facility in Swinton. As part of the reorganisation, London Road became the headquarters of the brigade's "E Division", with the station's control room responsible for two divisions covering the City of Manchester, the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport and Tameside.

The reorganisation meant the number of appliances was reduced, until only three remained at the station. The control room at London Road closed in 1979, replaced by a single computerised control room at brigade headquarters in Swinton.

In the same year, following the establishment of Greater Manchester Police and a reorganisation of policing in the city, the police station in the building also closed. The closure left the ground floor on the Whitworth Street side empty.

In 1984 construction work began on a £, replacement on Thompson Street and in 1985 the old London Road Fire Station was brought within the Whitworth Street Conservation Area. In 1986 the fire service left London Road for its new fire station, London Road Fire Station closed and the building was sold.

Dereliction and redevelopment

thumb|upright|right|The entrance to the Coroner's Court. Above the doorway to the left is [[Lady Justice. The mirror held by the woman on the right represents truth. In 2001 the building was placed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk Register. Manchester City Council backed the plans and refused to rule out a compulsory purchase order (CPO) if the owner did not act to redevelop the building. Britannia Hotels branded Argent's plans "unworkable" and proposed turning the building into a company headquarters, 200-bed hotel, and fire station museum. but none were produced by May 2009 and the city council lost faith in Britannia Hotels' commitment to its redevelopment. Britannia Hotels' proposal in July 2009 was to convert the fire station into a hotel with a 15-storey tower in its courtyard and promised a planning application by October 2009, but none was made and the city council's chief executive recommended issuing a CPO.

2010 CPO issued

A meeting of the city council in January 2010 approved a request for up to £5.25 million to cover the costs associated with the fire station's acquisition. Britannia Hotels responded by pledging to make a new proposal by February 2010, rendering the CPO unnecessary. Britannia submitted an application to turn the fire station into a 227-bed 4-star hotel in June 2010. The Victorian Society praised the proposed conversion. Manchester City Council decided to continue with the CPO. The city council issued a CPO on 5 August 2010. Despite the plans being approved on 16 September 2010, the council continued to pursue a CPO and solicited bids for a development partner in January 2011.

2011 CPO rejected

Britannia's objection to the CPO led to a public inquiry in April 2011. On 29 November 2011, the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed the CPO had been rejected. Despite Britannia's guarantee at the inquiry to proceed with the development, it reconsidered its plans. In a letter to English Heritage, Britannia said the proposed scheme was unsustainable for the foreseeable future. Britannia wanted to return to the rejected tower plan. English Heritage and the city council expressed disappointment. The city council offered to buy the building at market value.

2013 campaign for a second CPO

In February 2013 after a public meeting, the Friends of London Road Fire Station (FoLRFS) was formed to pressurise Britannia Hotels and persuade the council to attempt a second CPO. The group organised an online petition, fundraising events, public meetings, an online survey to discover locals' views, an art exhibition and public engagement with its history, and published the outcome of a Freedom of Information Act request on what the council had done regarding surveying the building and issuing urgent-works notices. In November 2013, Britannia applied to extend the 2010 planning permissions but despite objections the applications were approved on technical grounds in December 2013.

2014 second CPO started

The council considered applying for a CPO for the second time in September 2014 and confirmed its intention to do so in December 2014 and meet with FoLRFS in early 2015. FoLRFS received a grant from Locality's Community Assets in Difficult Ownership (CADO) programme to pay for public outreach work. On 30 April 2015, FoLRFS met Pat Bartoli, head of the council's urban regeneration team and Howard Bernstein who praised their campaign.

2015 owner sells the building

It was announced immediately after the meeting that Britannia Hotels had decided to sell the building. London Road Fire Station was put on the market on 1 May 2015 and expected offers of around £10 million while restoration is expected to cost £20–30 million. Allied London acquired the fire station on 16 November 2015.

2017–present: mixed-use conversion project

In 2017 the council approved plans to convert the building into a mixed-use development featuring a 91-room boutique hotel, offices, apartments, a cinema, a luxury spa, and various bars and restaurants. Although initial reports suggested the facility could open by 2019, construction work is still ongoing as of August 2024.

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