Hoardings of shame
The Lime Street redevelopment named the UK’s worst new building of the past six years
Dear readers — welcome to your Post briefing.
Two countdowns commence on this rainy Monday. Firstly, we’re into the final week of the general election campaign, with the possibility that by the weekend we’ll have a government that more than an excruciatingly tiny slither of the Liverpool population actually voted for.
The other countdown is perhaps more consequential still. Sunday is the deadline for applications to our staff writer role. All the details about the role can be found here, and if you do know someone who might be suitable, please send the ad their way!
Before we make forth into a rugged and unforgiving landscape of news, culture, long-reads, and other bits and pieces, let’s first look back to last week:
On Tuesday, data whizz Daniel Timms paired up with Ophira to investigate why Wirral West has seen a change of political heart in recent years.
Then on Thursday, Abi took a closer look at Alastair Saverimutto, the disgraced CEO of LIFE Wirral: the special needs school investigated by Panorama last month. 12 people signed up as new paying members after reading that one. If that’s you, a warm welcome.
Over the weekend Ophira ditched her Jude Bellingham England top and paid a visit to the World in One City tournament; a small, localised World Cup in Liverpool where players of different nationalities and backgrounds go head to head for the grand prize of a World Cup replica trophy. Read that one here.
Editor’s note: It costs just £7 a month to join our wonderful crew of paying subscribers. A paid membership gives you access to an extra eight editions every month, as well as an invite to our events (the next of which is on the cards). By signing up you’ll be helping us to bring back thoughtful, nuanced journalism catered to readers, not big advertisers. Which is what this region deserves.
Local, affordable, beautiful: Liverpool Art Fair’s 10th birthday
From today's sponsor: Liverpool Art Fair was set up to celebrate the incredible range of art being produced in this city. This year it's returning to the Royal Liver Building until 18th August, where you can view and purchase works by established artists and new talents. All artwork is under £2000 and there's a large section under £200 — with limited edition prints starting at just £20 — so there really is something for all budgets. Alongside the display there are also creative workshops, and a programme of events designed to support artists starting or growing a business.
Full details of the fair can be found here.
The big story: Hoardings of shame
Top line: Five years after completion, the redevelopment of Lime Street has taken home its first (and presumably last) award: the Carbuncle Cup. It was crowned the nation’s most “hideous” new building of the past six years by our friends at The Fence magazine.
Context: The redevelopment, which runs across the eastern part of Lime Street, was completed in 2019 and features designs of old Georgian buildings etched into metal cladding (the same Old Georgian buildings that were demolished in the redevelopment process, no less). It was drafted by architects Broadway Malyan and cost nearly £50 million to build. In its judgment, the magazine described the Lime Street development as a “monstrosity”.
Also among the esteemed shortlist, voted on by a panel elected by The Fence, were buildings in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, and another contender in Liverpool: Carillion’s new Royal Liverpool hospital. “It takes some going to actually be worse than the 60s eyesore it replaces but this island of shite in the middle of the city manages it,” said the person nominating the hospital.
Before the Lime Street development, the site of course housed the 1912 Futurist cinema. But the Futurist was crumbling and decaying, its Georgian frontage and Sicilian marble foyer shadows of their old selves.
Whether or not it could be salvaged became the topic of hot debate. An unlikely feud broke out between city centre councillor Nick Small and Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall. Cattrall accused the council of “destroying our city’s history”. Small retorted: “It’ll cost £17m of public money to save the Futurist, how much of your $75m fortune will you pledge Kim Cattrall?”
Yet whichever side of the Futurist debate you fell on, few were impressed by the building that took its place. In an interview with BBC Merseyside John Belchem, the chairman of the Merseyside Civic Society, called the building a "disgrace to the city", adding it’s “nothing less than an insult”. "That whole run on the eastern part of Lime Street could have preserved the character they had before but alas they didn't and now we end up with these ghastly things,” Belchem said.
The reality is that repurposing grand old buildings like the Futurist is tough. Last year, Jack wrote a piece about the future of the nearby ABC Cinema after it was set ablaze. In it, University of Liverpool sociology lecturer Paul Jones explained that cities with large quantities of beautiful old buildings like Liverpool often run into this problem. Finding a new lease of life for spaces that were “made in a different period for a different purpose” isn't easy.
“Councillor Small concurred. ‘You’re gonna end up with the council spending millions of pounds bringing the building back into use but there’s no purpose to that building,’ he said, noting that the city had an unusually large amount of listed buildings it needed to find new life for.”
However big the ask though, we’d probably have to agree that the Lime Street hoardings are a monstrosity deserving their crown. But it seems beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. The BBC sent a reporter along to Lime Street in light of the vote and found one passerby who claimed the new version of the building is “beautiful”. Yes, beautiful…
Do you think the Lime Street redevelopment deserves the title of the ugliest new building in the UK? Let us know in the comments.
Open newsroom
If you want to tell us about a story or give us some information, please email editor@livpost.co.uk. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity.
Do you remember a record label in Liverpool called Loud Band Management (LBM) in the 80s? Were you signed to it? Abi is writing a piece about the label and is looking to speak to people with anecdotes about LBM. Email her on abi@livpost.co.uk.
Your Post briefing
Over in the Safest Labour Seat in the Country™ (Liverpool Walton), the 80s continue to loom large, according to the New Statesman. A pre-election dispatch from the constituency reports that the “Thatcher and the Boys from the Blackstuff years,” are still “brought up independently by virtually everybody you ask about politics”. Liverpool Walton remains a place of curiosity in election season as the country’s safest seat (we recently spoke to a journalist from the Dutch newspaper Trouw about this — any Dutch-speaking Post readers can keep a lookout for that) but despite the massive Labour support, the likely next PM is not a popular man apparently. “The future PM is ‘a waste of space’, several voters tell me as [Dan] Carden sits beside me looking sheepish,” writes Jonny Ball.
In the weekend’s major football story, congratulations to Libya who beat England on penalties to win the World in One City. We were there for the semi-finals on Friday (you can read Ophira’s account of all the drama here) and saw the Libyan ultras in all their glory: “Here and there is a flag, but they’re scattered about the railings with no sense of clannishness. The exception to this is in one corner, where 20-odd Libya fans have crowded together, wielding banners and drums and megaphones, and one young boy with a bubble-firing gun.” A well-deserved win.
The second phase of the £22 million Strand redevelopment has advanced after lengthy delays. A council-appointed contractor is assessing the next stage, which will include segregated cycle lanes, new traffic signals, LED street lights, drainage improvements, and carriageway resurfacing. Before Phase One was completed in 2021, The Strand was mostly unchanged since the 50s.
And finally, a note on the recent coverage of the tragic disappearance of Jay Slater. By our count, the Echo has now produced roughly 60 articles on the case; each less insightful than the last. In one piece, titled “I went to the church square where the image of Jay Slater 'walking past' was taken”, a writer goes to the square in question, and does the following: takes a picture of the CCTV camera that captured a possible sighting of Slater and speaks to a shopkeeper who says he didn’t see the missing teenager but a road that he might have walked on is “dangerous”. Other stories on the topic? ‘Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid opens up on Jay Slater disappearance “nightmare”’ and ‘Top cop's three Jay Slater theories on what happened in Tenerife’ (he ‘theorises’ that Slater either got lost, was taken, or disappeared on purpose. Helpful…). Is it right for our local newspapers to be mass-producing empty filler nonsense to mine a tragedy for clicks? You be the judge.
Home of the week
This five-bedroom terraced house in Aigburth is on the market for £350,000. The property has been wonderfully decorated with an art deco touch, with original fireplaces and an outside courtyard space. Take the full tour here.
Post Picks
🍺 Runcorn Masonic Hall Beer Festival returns this Saturday for a day filled with the best locally brewed beers, live music, and great company at the Runcorn Masonic Hall. The event is also raising money for Halton Carers Centre and Halton Cancer Support.
🎨 On Thursday Pop Up Painting hosts another session at City Wine Bar, this time inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night. All art supplies are provided, with plenty of wines to choose from at the bar. Tickets are available here.
📖 Feminist Fiction’s book club returns this Wednesday. This month’s book is Briefly, A Delicious Life, the debut novel from award-winning writer Nell Sevens. The book follows a teenage ghost who falls in love with the writer George Sand. Grab a ticket for the club here.
🎸On Friday, Jacaranda Records presents a live performance from rock band The Mysterines in support of their new album, Afraid of Tomorrows. Doors open at 7pm — find out more here.
Recommended reads
“Adam Yauch had appeared on local TV early that night declaring that Liverpool should be ready to exercise ‘its constitutional right to be fresh.’ I did not know exactly what he meant but could not have been more exhilarated.” GQ writer Roger Bennett recounts the chaotic night the Beastie Boys came to town. Warning: things get ill.
The BBC tells the story of how the Welsh-speaking village of Capel Celyn was drowned to provide drinking water for Liverpool. “It was proof of Wales' political impotence, always out-voted and out-muscled by its more powerful neighbour.”
One of my most strongly held opinions is that no one should have a strong opinion on Lime St. It's meh at worst but it is indisputably better than the eyesore it was for 40 years, and all the moaning distracts from the many other eyesores, stalled sites and antisocial developments that are causing tangible harm to local people.
Cinemas and theatres seem to have a particularly hard time finding new uses rather than being demolished. Why is this?
Could it be because they have a large footprint and are often located in high value location within city and town centres? Or perhaps it is only those in these locations that are left land-banked, vacant and decaying? There are numerous examples in this City of cinemas being reused - Handymans on Smithdown Road was a former suburban cinema as an example.
The key is that the current owners have to be flexible and imaginative in the new uses they embrace.
As a part-owner of one of the rarest - a suburban Victorian Music Hall - I know the challenges. But it is about vision and commitment. Twelve years ago - "You can't open a horse riding school in an old Victorian theatre ........ Can you?"
Take a look at Park Palace Ponies, 253 Mill Street L8. The countries first starter riding school, and then, if anyone has a larger cinema they want repurposing into a full sized riding arena do let me know .
Keith Hackett 07969 497048