Thanks for the update Philip.
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Thanks for the update Philip.
Bluecoat Arts Centre chief: We will soon be back
May 14 2008
Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post
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THE iconic Bluecoat arts centre will rise again, management has vowed after fire threatened to destroy Liverpool’s oldest building.
Only a brand new automatic fire alarm that was tested hours before flames took hold prevented a disaster, the Daily Post can reveal.
More...
I remember one of the classrooms at St Margarets was well alight with some loon throwing a bin through the window and then setting fire to it. Luckily, the fire didn't spread anywhere at all but just the one room, but you could smell the smoke for months after - probably down to never having been aired properly.
(Kev, it was the foyer, enter the new block, past the toilets, past the cloakroom and it was the 1st room ground floor opposite the massive set of lockers.)
Firefighters’ verdict on Bluecoat blaze probe
May 14 2008
by Michelle Fiddler, Liverpool Echo
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FIRE investigators were today expected to say what may have caused the blaze which swept through Bluecoat Arts centre.
The fire started in the first floor kitchen of the School Lane building which was only reopened two months ago following a £12.5m redevelopment.
The blaze broke out at about 4am yesterday with smoke spreading to the first-floor restaurant and offices on the second floor.
Early estimates suggest around 80% of the building escaped undamaged.
But it could be months before the kitchen and restaurant are reopened.
Bluecoat chief executive Alastair Upton said: “Obviously we are shocked and saddened that this has happened.
“We are working hard to get the Bluecoat open for our tenant occupiers and the public again as soon as possible.
“We would like to thank the Merseyside Fire Brigade and National Museums Liverpool disaster recovery team for their help.”
Source: Liverpool Echo
Investigators probe Bluecoat blaze
May 15 2008
by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post
FIRE investigators are continuing to build up a picture of what led up to the blaze that hit the Bluecoat arts centre in Liverpool.
More...
sneaked in there one saturday afternoon when in town, my old lady said that it was full of blokes drawing naked women, ( how could we resist), went thru the door on the lower left below the fire, went upstairs towards the main building, was gutted to find a young chinese lad playing the violin
Arts centre hit by fire to reopen
A historic arts centre which was damaged in a blaze is due to reopen within days.
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A fire broke out at the arts centre just
two months after it was refurbished
Liverpool's Bluecoat, which is believed to be the oldest arts centre in the UK, suffered fire and smoke damage in the blaze on 13 May.
The fire broke out in the kitchen area just weeks after the Grade-I listed building on School Lane was reopened in March following a £12.5m refit.
The centre is due to re-open for business on Friday.
Work on the elegant building, originally used as a school, began in 1716 and was completed nine years later.
It was first taken over as an arts space in 1908 when the school moved to a new, larger site in Wavertree.
The redeveloped centre includes a new arts wing, four new galleries, a 200-seat performance space, a new coffee outlet, bar and restaurant and creative industry studios.
A spokesman for The Bluecoat said: "It is the oldest arts centre in the UK and the oldest building in Liverpool city centre."
Source: BBC NEWS | Merseyside
The oldest building in Liverpool City Centre.
24 August 2008.
From the front it still looks the same, and the shops either side are still there.
However, it came as a shock to me to find a lot of the interior has been rebuilt, apart from the new wing at the back, which I knew about.
Even the garden at the back has been replaced with something that looks like a patio in a suburban house.
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Nice pics
Kev
Thanks Kev.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kev
nice photos Philip,I was surprised too how much they'd changed the interior,I used to love the little bookshops & Cafe that used to be there
Blaze-hit historic Bluecoat rises out of the ashes
Oct 24 2008 by Richard Down, Liverpool Daily Post
ONE of Liverpool?s most prestigious buildings has completed its refurbishment after fire swept through it in May and will soon fully reopen.
Liverpool?s Bluecoat centre opened in March after a ?12.5m refit.
Around 10,000 people, including Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, attended a weekend-long celebration.
But, just two months later, the centre closed after a fire tore through the first-floor kitchen.
Last night, Bluecoat chief executive Alastair Upton said: ?The full Bluecoat is back as it should be.
?It is the end of a huge amount of work.?
The Grade I listed building dates back to 1717 and previously functioned as a school.
The initial refurbishment won it a place on the Royal Institute of British Architect?s North West awards shortlist.
As part of the revamp in March, a new wing comprising four new galleries and a 200-seat performance space was opened.
The restaurant, Upstairs at the Bluecoat, sits at the heart of the building, and on Saturday, November 8, it will reopen.
Mr Upton said: ?There?s no other restaurant like it in Liverpool. It?s five-star dining in the middle of this wonderful building.
?You walk past amazing sculptures to get into it and we?ve really majored on its location in an art centre.?
Not much appears to have changed in the restaurant, despite the fact insurers condemned everything when the smoke cleared in May.
Mr Upton said: ?We were very happy with what we had before, and we?re simply bringing it back.?
A few subtle alterations have been made.
A report prepared by fire service deputy chief fire officer Mike Hagen revealed that the impact of the kitchen fire had been made worse by the fact a door had been left open into the kitchen.
Now a roller blind has been installed that will fall at the first sign of fire.
Mr Upton also confirmed that fire safety messages have been reiterated to staff.
Now he is focusing heavily on the reopening.
Children will eat free when accompanying an adult buying a two-course meal on the reopening weekend.
Artist Geraldine Pilgrim, working with the Blue Coat School, which was housed in the building until its move to Wavertree, will stage a free event commissioned for Liverpool Live 08 unfurling the layered history of this former 18th-century school.
The restaurant team have been working hard on a brand new menu, and head chef Matthew Burns said: ?We are using the best quality ingredients possible, and we are working with the wealth of local, sustainable produce we have available in the North West.?
richarddown
Looks a wee bit nice doesn't it.
wonderbar, if only there was more homely buildings like this. aaaaah those were the days.........
LIVERPOOL?S refurbished Bluecoat celebrates its first birthday this weekend. Read
Bluecoat Craft fair.
nice photos Lindy.......I didn't know it was on :(