ampaigners has submitted an offer to save an art deco cinema amid the Beatles’ heritage, where John Lennon has spent many “happy hours” as he faces demolition to make way for a new lidl branch.
The reduction supermarket chain has revealed plans to dismantle Abbey Cinema in the village of Wavertree, Liverpool, after the investigations it ordered advised “irreparable” assets.
The proposals, which the company opened for public consultation before submitting a plan-making application, show that Lidl would update the old Co-op store with a design designed to “pay homage” to the original building.
This resolution was widely condemned by estate activists and residents.
An application to turn cinema into an indexed construction filed through Save Britain’s Heritage, and culture secretary Oliver Dowden won a report from Historic England inspectors.
In the original lyrics to the 1965 song In My Life, Lennon referred to the cinema as a position in which he had spent “happy hours”, while teammate George Harrison was born in front of the building.
Liverpool plan expert Jonathan Brown, who prepared the application for Save, said: “Replacing a sublime 82-year-old Blitz survivor with a one-floor shed in a car parking lot is like recording at a car-winning event in Osa. wobbly house movie. “
The app was made public with the help of Clare Devaney, a Wavertree resident, whose request to save construction with “The Help of Lidl from His Friends” was signed through some 6,000 people.
Ms. Devaney wrote: “The legacy of the Beatles of the abbey and the construction itself are of paramount importance to our community. He prides himself as the father of our main street, overlooking an organization of indexed buildings, adding the famous Lockup (1796) and Picton Clock (1884).
Save asked Lidl to present the structural research that led them to make construction not financially viable.
Save architecture historian and executive chairman Marcus Binney said: “It is not appropriate for Lidl to release the demolition while thinking that the Abbey Cinema is still on the list; it seems like an attempt to save the process. “.
“Liverpool has recently lost the remarkable futuristic cinema of Lime Street to a Lidl, in one of the worst acts of municipal vandalism of the century. We will have to resist a false selection between investment and abandonment; there is no clever explanation why Lidl cannot reuse the existing building, which has been empty for less than a year.
“Lidl sees it as a privilege to paint in an iconic place in Liverpool. “
Abbey Cinema is legally a “designated heritage property”, but this does not protect the construction from demolition.
Lidl said the new one would create up to 30 jobs.
A supermarket spokesman said: “Lidl GB reviewed all the features of the site and commissioned an in-depth independent report from a qualified civilian and structural engineer who concluded that the construction was in poor condition and that it was not feasible to renew it. “
“Normally, the metal frame of the construction corrodes and the characteristic corner design on the front is irreparable.
“We propose updating existing facilities with a singles store to serve the local community, create jobs and bring this back to life.
“Surveys and effects will be sent with the plan request and we would be satisfied with the percentage of them once the application is online. “