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What’s Happening to Prescot’s Buildings?
Have you ever passed an iconic Prescot landmark and wondered, What’s happening to that?
Leave a comment below or post to the Prescot Online Facebook page if you have other buildings and sites to add to the list.
Prescot Museum
Until 2012, Prescot Museum occupied the fine Georgian townhouse that stands on the corner of Church Street and High Street.
The Shakespeare North Trust have now bought the building, and plan to upgrade it and open their Prescot headquarters in 2016, the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
The new centre will be used for education and community outreach as a prelude to opening an Elizabethan theatre and college complex in the town by 2019, if planning permission and fundraising attempts are successful.
Prescot Library
The same year the museum moved, the library moved, too, so the two could be housed together in Prescot Shopping Centre.
The distinct seventies building is now being developed as a private residence.
Old Somerfield/Gateway Supermarket
The long-vacant Somerfield unit in Prescot Shopping Centre is leased to the Co-operative, who bought out the entire Somerfield chain in 2009.
There is no truth to the long-standing rumour that Tesco bought the lease to prevent rival supermarkets opening in the town centre.
In 2013, Knowsley Council announced a consultation on the idea of a Prescot town centre cinema. They found public support for the idea, and the council continues to pursue a private cinema operator. The Somerfield unit appears to be a favoured location.
Whiston Library
Having closed in March 2014 as a result of council budget cuts, the library was due to re-open within a month as Whiston Library & Community Hub, run by OWL volunteers under an arrangement with leaseholders Hugh Baird College.
The college withdrew immediately and unexpectedly on signing the lease, citing cost and infrastructure concerns, and OWL negotiated with KMBC for a further nine months, with plans to transfer the building and services to community ownership.
The current situation appears to have reached stalemate, and it seems unlikely the Dragon Drive site will remain in public use as a library or community centre.
Prescot Museum photo: Sue Adair
(licensed for reuse under Creative Commons)
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