A decision will be reached ‘within weeks’ over a millionaires’ last gasp attempt to save Preston bus station it is reported. The 1960s bus station has attracted the support of English Heritage and the Twentieth Century Society since Preston City Council announced plans for its demolition last December.
Now, in what must surely be the final roll of the dice, local businessman Simon Rigby has offered to buy the property from the council after surveyors reported that it is structurally sound and ready for refurbishment. Rigby plans to keep it as a bus station but to add shops and space for start-up businesses and local artists.
The council estimates that it will cost between £17m – £23m to refurbish the property on top of the £290,000 a year they pay to maintain it. They claim it will cost less to knock it down and replace it with a new bus station paid for by Lancashire County Council, but Rigby believes it has potential.
He told the FT; “It is iconic. Whatever replaces it won’t be. This was a cool place. It can be cool again. There are thousands of college and university students passing through.”
He intends to invest around £500,000 a year into the property over the course of the next decade. Following this Rigby anticipates the venture will begin to return a small profit.
English Heritage has recommended that the building should be granted listed status on two occasions but both applications were rejected. Catherine Croft of the Twentieth Century Society insists the bus station has a role to play in the future of the city.
“An imaginative refurbishment scheme could still secure the future of this architectural masterpiece,” she said.
A spokesman for Preston City Council said it’s time to reach a decision over the issue and move on.
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