Inspire Partnership has been named as the preferred developer, a collective that includes key investor International Public Partnerships, constructors and investors Shepherd Construction, city-based architects Austin-Smith:Lord and restoration specialists William AnelayCOR.
Building services engineers Buro HappoldCOR, asset managers Amber Infrastructure and facilities managers CofelyCOR complete the partnership.
The library is scheduled to be closed in June, 2010, and it will take around three months to completely empty.
The city council is about to finalise an arrangement with another city centre location to keep facilities accessible to the public throughout the closure of the building.
“We took a strategic decision that education is so important to the future prosperity of this city, and libraries are a finger on the hand of that,” said council leader, Cllr Warren Bradley., “While other councils have been streamlining, cutting costs and closing libraries, we have been investing.
“We have worked hard over the last six or seven years and are pleased we have now got a developer in place to deliver this scheme. This has been a long time in coming.”
He added: “On the back of Capital of Culture, we have invested £100m into the cultural infrastructure of the city.
“If you look at what’s going on with the [Everyman and Playhouse] theatres and what the museums have done, it’s phenomenal to see the investment in culture since 2008, and this is the icing on the cake.
This man really is dangerous the only reason he is placed in his position, in my opinion, was to allow people to faclilitate use of the huge European Slush fund, he talks about getting a developer in.......this is our library Mr Bradley not a speculative development sceme. He has waxed lyrical about every scheme that has come on board, carbuncle after carbuncle, he has backed, telling us how great everything is. My opinion is he is being puppeteered by Mike Storey still.
With Bradley in charge they can ruin what they want. With The Daily Ghost and the Oldham Echo as your PR company you have it made. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/10/30/50m-liverpool-library-refurbishment-plans-unveiled-92534-25050438/ Vicky Anderson reports on behalf of the council this time.
To use your cultural assets in a manner, that does not undertand them is beyond belief. Housed in the Central Records office is the Chambre Hardman archive that I had a hand in saving for the city, while the Liberal Democrats, activly, campaigned to have 240,000 negatives of his work sent to Bradford and his house, now owned and run by the National trust, was to be closed.
When will this city ever learn.
A full planning application will be made on November 23and a four-week public consulatition event will be held in Central Library throughout December.
Its up to the public but with the spirit shown in the past it looks like its a done deal. Milton Keynes-On-Sea in a world heritage Mercantile and Maritime City, it just doesnt seem right.
CODA
I have just seen the front page headline of the Daily Ghost. "Stunning new £50m library sheme plan revealed". This has to be an editorial headline and it runs even with Mark Thomas style, describing the fantastic new Ferry Terminal and the stunning new museum. The Terminal Ferry building later went on to win Building Design National Carbuncle Cup Award. http://liverpoolpreservationtrust.blogspot.com/2009/08/liverpool-wins-carbuncle-cup.html
Every tacky scheme that come along is pounced upon by the Daily Ghost and edited as a good news story with a lack of architectural education that astounds.
One of the main reasons the world heritage site is ruined to such an extent it is being laughed at by architectural cultured people is because of the quality of the local journalism and its lack of architectural knowledge. They cant even do the people right by taking an opinion, no wonder they cant even give it away.
Losing the Ghost paper, will be no loss really, it wont. What happened to inquiring journalists in this town.
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It says in the Press report that the Picton & Hornby libraries will be "restored to their former glories". Let's sincerely hope so.
ReplyDeleteI used to work in the Picton reading room, and I promise you this - if Fleming buggers up the Picton, I will personally go down there and chop his fucking head off.
Ronald. Fuzzy Felt Fleming is not in charge of this scheme but by the look of it he may as well be it just looks like the plans for the interior of the new museum carbuncle that he has got past the press.
ReplyDeleteThis is a comment on the Daily Ghost article that I thought may be pertinent to a balance to the the euphoric reporting despite there being problems elsewhere with historic libraries.
ReplyDeleteKatie54 wrote:
While this project looks wonderful, and I welcome it, it is a great pity that funds good not be found to finish the library refurbishment programme.
Lister Drive library, in Green Lane, is a Grade II listed Carnegie library that was a vital and much loved community resource - for pupils at the local primary and secondary schools and for the elderly in particular, and the Central Library, however, wonderful, will not really meet their needs.
But LCC decided to stop doing any regular maintenance on this beautiful building and its grounds in 2004, and it eventually was closed two years ago after what must have been a welcome minor accident on "health and safety" grounds, and have made no effort to find funds to refurbish it, as they rightly have for all the other listed libraries in Liverpool. They haven't even bothered doing a proper assessment of what needs to be done, and as time goes on the cost of any remedial work must be increasing exponentially, and the building is becoming a council owned grade II listed eyesore that should appear on any list of buildings in danger whose owners should be shamed into sorting out.
And as for its users, while the library service state that the library of the new boys' secondary school being built nearby on Millbank will also be open to use by the community, there is a great deal of understandable skepticism about how this will actually work in practice.
So why on earth are they doing this?
And, more importantly, what are they going to do with the building?
30/10/2009 12:21 PM GMT on liverpooldailypost.co.uk
One day I so want to say wow this will be fantastic what a brilliant addition to the city well done to everyone involved. Sadly I can't see this day coming and these idiots will not be happy until they have turned the whole city into a Brave New World. Wayne is absolutely right,it is sodding ASDA vs Doctor Who.
ReplyDeleteWhy do these people think that the sci-fi look interior is the be all and end all of design. Like the Black Slugs rising at the pier head destroying the water front, I would not object to them being built further along the docklands or back into the town centre. If this design was for a new building in another areas I would not be too bothered, but this is the interior of our Central Library in the historic William Brown Street.
Remember, these complete f***wits not so long ago, wanted to build a giant sized plastic garden conservatory right across the front of the whole site defacing the entire facade of the buidings. Yes it is true! How can you possibly trust these idiots with the city heritage?
These people have no concept of how you can modernise and compliment a building or an area unless it is carried out with a direct clash of styles. They see only what they think is bold modern designs that are in fact cheap, nasty and will quickly look dated and ridiculous in years to come when people consider what has been done to the architecture of the city.
The refit of the library sould be carried out with dignity and materials that compliment the grandness and sheer spectacle of these magnificent buildings. Look at the Picton reading room and take themes and colours and use of materials as a guide for the refit, not just shove a photo of a shopping centre in front of us and expect us all to get excited and thankful or to applaud the end of the long wait. If this is the best the can come up with then lets wait a bit longer. The Library is one of the great jewels in the city crown, it is not an extension of Liverpool One. I hope it is not to late to just say no this is not good enough and to give the renovation of this great building the dignity and respect it deserves.
By the way, if you look at the first picture you can see that at least the designer has a sense of humour or is perhaps just being honest, on the wall in the right hand corner is written "DIS" the start of Disaster.
Your completly out of your depth.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4624133.stm
ReplyDeletewhat happened at Lister Drive
Oh dear! Another library with an atrium hole through its centre, cleverly letting every sound (mobile phones, chatter etc) to reach all parts. This is no doubt deliberate to create a "buzz" but really it's another type of cultural dumbing down. The New Philistines *hate* serious study and book readers; it makes them insecure so they try to wreck it.
ReplyDelete