This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
A new lease of life for city church
A Victorian gothic church could be turned into a function hall.
Developer Altaf Gaffar has applied to Leicester City Council for permission to turn Grade II-listed St Saviour's Church, in St Saviour's Road, Spinney Hills, into a venue for events.
The church has been up for sale with an asking price of about £750,000 since March, 2011, after being put on the market by the Leicester Diocesan Board of Finance.
While it still belongs to the diocese, it is standard practice when selling churches for a preferred buyer to be selected, who then submits a planning application with the church, which then has to be approved before the purchase takes place.
A design statement submitted to the council by the developer's agent, Dinesh Tailor, of DT Designs, said the proposed function room would predominantly cater for events on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, for about 300 people.
It would also be rented out during the week for corporate meetings of up to 100 people.
Mr Tailor wrote: "The aim of the works is to provide the building with the necessary investment needed to arrest the decline in its fabric and ensure an economically viable future.
"All proposed alterations and particularly the internal elements were conceived to respect the existing structure and enable the original identity and purpose to be readily recognised."
The church was built in about 1875 and designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for the Midland Grand Hotel, at St Pancras station, and the Albert Memorial, in Kensington Gardens.
The proposal involves demolishing the former church school adjacent to St Saviour's, to make space for a 39-space car park. This was built in 1882 and, after being used as a school, was rented by Leicester City Council as a community centre for about 30 years, until 2008.
The church, which could seat a congregation of 1,000 people, shut in 2005 and has been targeted by vandals.
Mr Tailor's statement added: "The removal of the former community centre building and revised site layout will open the views from the north to display the full extent of the built form."
He also said the renovation would generate work for local tradespeople and the new use would "lead to employment opportunities" for local people.
A spokeswoman for the diocese of Leicester said the application was "good news."
"We care deeply about our buildings, whether they are churches that are in use or no longer in use," she said. "Having a building which will find a new place in the life of Leicester is always good news".
Grahame Lees, spokesman for the Leicester Victorian Society, said the group welcomed plans to bring the building back into use.
"It certainly wants some money spending on it," he said.
"It is a lovely building and hopefully it will be respected. Hopefully, this person will come along and spend the money on it and bring it back into use.
"We never like to see historic buildings sitting empty for longer than they need to."
The Mercury was unable to contact DT Designs or Altaf Gaffar for a comment.
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Church is yours for £175,000
A buyer with £175,000 and a little imagination is needed to take over an empty city church.
St Barnabas, in New Humberstone, closed in 2010 when the Diocese of Leicester decided congregation numbers had dwindled too low to maintain the Grade-II listed Victorian building.
It has room for hundreds of worshippers but, before it closed, only about 20 people attended the Christian services in what has become a mostly Hindu neighbourhood.
The church has now been put on the market with Andrew Granger & Co.
Estate agent Elizabeth Lewin said: "St Barnabas is a fine example of Victorian architecture – it's a beautiful building and the gothic interior creates a great first impression.
"It's really important that we find a buyer who will be sympathetic to the building and its past.
"When we've sold churches in the past it's been about finding someone to stick around to get planning consent because applications about a church are going to be more considered than with another building of a similar age."
The church has planning permission for class B1, which means it could be used as a creche or for education, as well as its former use as a place of worship.
Other possibilities suggested by the estate agents include health centre, art gallery, museums or library.
Elizabeth said: "Because there's no parking it's limited to further development such as flats, but that's not to say someone can't come up with a far-out idea. A community use is most likely."
She said the new owner would find it challenging to get any major changes to the building approved by Leicester City Council.
Most churches are sold on to the open market, but a few are adopted by the Churches Conservation Trust because of their heritage value.
David Gillman, who works as a consultant on getting the best use out of empty churches, said St Barnabas could be hard to sell.
He said: "The church is very near a well-appointed Hindu temple, so there is little requirement for it as a place of worship for the large Hindu population in that area.
"It is a large building and it's not going to be easy to find a new use for it."
Leicester Victorian Society spokesman Graham Lees welcomed the decision to try to sell the church.
He said: "St Barnabas is one of the buildings we identified as one of the 10 most important city buildings at risk of falling into ruin.
"What we hope happens is that someone buys the building and is sympathetic to its character and significance.
"It is a great example of Victorian architecture and it is vital to retain this part of the city's past.
"We do not want it standing empty for ages. A quick sale would be most welcome."
Anyone interested in the building can ring Elizabeth on 01509 243720 or e-mail: elizabeth.lewin@ andrewgranger.co.uk
This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:
Temple plan for historic site
An historic building in the heart of the St George Conservation Area in Leicester could become a place of worship.
The city council has received a licensing inquiry about the empty Edwardian Guild for the Disabled building, in Colton Street, from the Shri Shirdi Baba Temple Association, an international religious organisation.
Leaders would like to use the Grade II-listed building, which is on English Heritage's "at risk" list, as a temple and meeting place.
Darshan Singh Nagi is chairman of the Shri Shirdi Baba Temple Association, which has a UK base in Wembley, north London.
He said: "We are in the process of signing a lease with the owners but want to be sure that it would be okay to use the building for worship.
"That's why we have applied to the council for a certificate for this purpose."
The temple association takes its name from Indian holy man and deity Sai Baba, of Shirdi, a village near Mumbai, who preached peace, charity and harmony under one god.
Mr Singh said: "He was well known for performing miracles and although his millions of devotees worldwide observe a loosely Hindu tradition, he is revered by Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Hindus alike.
"The hall would be used by our followers in Leicester and all people would be welcome."
Built in 1909 by city architects A and T E Sawday, the building, now called the Charles Venue, was the first in Britain, and possibly the world, to be designed for people with disabilities, complete with wheelchair access. Listed by English Heritage in 1992, it has been empty since 2000, when disabled charity Mosaic moved to new headquarters.
The city council refused a licensing application last year by Belgrave developer Ashik Madlani – who wanted to use it to stage plays, films, wrestling, live music and dance events – after concerns were raised by residents over noise disturbance.
"Our use would be a very quiet and peaceful one," said Mr Singh.
"We would like to breath new life into this truly beautiful and historic building so that the people of Leicester can be proud of it once again."
Graham Lees, spokesman for the Leicester Victorian Society, said: "When a lovely building like this is left empty for too long it is a big concern to us.
"It is far better for it to cared for and maintained while being used in an appropriate way."
A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: "The application is for a Certificate of Proposed Lawful Use.
"This process allows the applicant to ask for the council's legal opinion as to whether or not the Guild for the Disabled can be used as a place of worship without the need for planning permission.
"Current planning legislation allows for the grouping of similar uses in one category. A training centre and place of worship would fall within the same group.
"A change between uses within the same group will not normally require planning permission.
"We are undertaking research into the history of the site to identify if the building can be used as a place of worship without the need for further planning permission.
"Any related alterations to the building would still need planning permission."
