Durning Road Fire & Police Station

A project to fire the imagination!

Heritage Works is working with Liverpool City Council to identify potential end uses for the Grade 2 listed former Fire Station and the historically significant Shipperies pub on Durning Road in Kensington. As a Building Preservation Trust, Heritage Works operates as a not for profit developer to deliver regeneration projects. We are hoping to find a way to repair and upgrade these buildings and are searching for end users, end uses and potential fundable projects to bring them back to life.

The two historic buildings have been retained because of their local importance, architecturally and socially. Now that new housing is springing up in the area, Liverpool City Council is seeking to find a new use for these buildings so that they can once again play a role in the local community.

The Fire Station was built in 1884 as a Police and Fire Station, with some police officers acting as 'Fire Bobbies' as well as being on the beat. The station closed in 1976 and was converted into tyre fitting garage. It has been empty since 2003 and severely fire-damaged. In 2009 the City Council implemented emergency repairs and mothballed the building. The existing building is capable of providing approximately 168m2 (1,800sq ft) of accommodation over two floors. There is potential to add an extension and provide car-parking to the rear.

The Shipperies pub was built to accommodate visitors to the International Exhibition of Navigation, Travelling, Commerce and Manufacture (known as the Shipperies Exhibition) which held in the nearby Exhibition Hall on Edge Lane in 1886. License registers record the names of several early publicans and then in 1903 the owner was recorded as 'Peter Walker of Warrington and Robert Cain & Sons Ltd'. The Shipperies remained as a Cains pub for many decades but was sold off by the brewery (in the 1980s?) and continued to trade as a freehouse until 2010. It has three interconnected rooms on the ground floor, served by a central bar, and residential accommodation on the two upper floors. In total it contains approximately 530m2 (5,700 sq ft) of accommodation.

Heritage Works has undertaken a review of previous studies [PDF 630Kb] exploring the costs of repairing these buildings and the potential to find a viable future use. As a result of the review's findings, a community consultation programme has been initiated. We are keen to hear from organisations that are interested in working in partnership to deliver a fundable project.

• Do you have a community project to bring to these buildings?
• Is your organisation looking for a new home?
• Can you help us identify future occupiers?

For further information or to discuss potential ideas, please email director@heritageworks.co.uk or contact Julie Wickington at Liverpool City Council.

Executive Summary, Durning Road Fire & Police Station Feasibility Study, May 2009 [PDF 630Kb]

Executive Summary, Durning Road Fire Station & Shipperies Review, October 2011 [PDF 98Kb]

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