The Birmingham Grand Hotel

[Scazmattaz]

If it cant be Grade A office space then why not a partial hotel on the lower floors and apartments on the upper floors? It cant be THAT hard to do something with it?

[blahblah]

...

[U475 Foxtrot]

well done Hortons

Yes it will be expensive to restore but it can be done. Just fucking sell it to someone who will do something with it rather than look at the land value

[ShavenHeaden]

Why won't they sell? There's an article saying how Wragge wanted to 'take it over' and though it doesn't say they'll restore it, it sounds most likely. Would Hortons hold onto it for so long risking they might get their way, or does it really suggest they and the council have done a deal to just let it fall apart?

[brum2003]

Originally Posted by ShavenHeaden

Why won't they sell? There's an article saying how Wragge wanted to 'take it over' and though it doesn't say they'll restore it, it sounds most likely. Would Hortons hold onto it for so long risking they might get their way, or does it really suggest they and the council have done a deal to just let it fall apart?

I'd imagine Hortons and the council have very strong links that go way back, if this is lost it will cement the cities reputation as the UK's philistine city

[brum2003]

its also rich that the council are actively using CPO's in the suburbs to tidy up derelict and abandoned houses, this is the the most shocking case of vandalism

still, they are letting Calthorpes get away with the same trick along the Hagley Road

[Erebus555]

I'm emailing the council over this as well. I need to get back into my pestering phase again

[Erebus555]

My email got blocked for "inappropriate language"

[brum2003]

an article in the paper says that english heritage and BCC hope to announce a rescue scheme by the end of the year...maybe they will give Hortons a subsidy to save the building ?

[Scazmattaz]

Originally Posted by Erebus555

My email got blocked for "inappropriate language"

LMAO!

[Erebus555]

The MessageLabs Content Control service has identified that an email
sent by you may contravene one of the City Council’s email usage
policy rules and it has therefore been quarantined.

...

The policy rule that gave rise to this notification was: -
4228 Inbound mail contains inappropriate content

I suppose I did use the word bollocks once or twice...

[U475 Foxtrot]

Originally Posted by blahblah

Look at that interior! I like the Grosvenor Room

[U475 Foxtrot]

I guess the Hortons announcement may have been the Wragge deal. Still seems blindingly obvious to turn it into a *5 hotel to me

[Nacho]

Must keep this one .Looks smashing in that news clip .

[Demolition Dan]

I cant believe there are still imbeciles that want to knock this down.
A building of this quality would *never* be built today in Bham or most cities of the world.

Unfortunately this sort of vandalism is still going on in the Midlands.
I think a terrific Victorian warehouse "accidentally " burnt down in Bham , and a 300 year old manor house was demolished in the Black Country.

Bham's baroque architecture can compete with virtually anywhere in the world - but just look at the crap that replaced so much of it.
And we're still seeing buildings being built by "tatmeisters"- with backing by gimmicky architects and cheapskate developers

[Erebus555]

Is it possible for it to be turned into a hotel? I mean, those rooms were designed for Victorian purposes and now visitors expect more from hotels. Horton's are going to keep on getting this criticism if they don't expand on why they won't convert it into a hotel.

[Erebus555]

Originally Posted by Demolition Dan

Unfortunately this sort of vandalism is still going on in the Midlands.
I think a terrific Victorian warehouse "accidentally " burnt down in Bham , and a 300 year old manor house was demolished in the Black Country.

If you're talking about the warehouse on Belmont Row, then you'll be pleased to know that the council are ploughing £1 million into rebuilding it and it is being included in the Eastside Locks masterplan. That wasn't some ploy by the council to set fire to a building they own so they could get it off their hands.

[Joe Brody]

If it was likely to be profitable to restore it and open it as a hotel it would no doubt have happened by now. Wragges didnt want it cos of 'conservation issues' (ie they wouldnt be able to strip out the interior)

Its a beautiful building and if the interior is intact then even more reason to keep it. But as what? A privately run hotel isnt the sort of thing council or Lottery likely to stump up for. I wouldnt mind some of my council tax going towards it, but I might if I lived in council block in Newtown.

Some kind of subsidiary convention centre to ICC?

[Erebus555]

Coincidentally, I have just found this render on the Malcolm Payne Architects website for an 'office concept for Horton's Estates'


I know Hortons are a pretty big company in the Midlands, but I thought it was worth bringing up!

[blahblah]

According to this, just because the Grand is Grade II* does not mean that it cannot be altered and updated.

Buildings listed under the U.K's Grade II* listing category are judged as 'particularly important buildings of more than special interest'. This is one rank above the Grade II listing, defined as 'of special listing, warranting every effort to preserve them', though below the Grade I category of 'buildings of exceptional interest'. The level of listing will obviously affect the way in which you can use or change the building in question and other factors like restrictive covenants in the specific lease can also come into play.

However, for all listed buildings there are restrictions on what you may do to the building. Therefore your local planning authority must by law be consulted - and listed building consent obtained - before you can demolish it, alter or extend it in a way that affects its character. Also note that planning permission alone is not sufficient to authorise demolition.

Consent is also necessary for alterations or extensions to any structure within the grounds of a listed building and you should consult your local planning authority before starting any work on a listed building, even painting.

http://www.blurtit.com/q669961.html

If they plan to re-open it as a Hotel, then they wouldn't be changing it's use, or it's characher. Rooms may need to be altered to add airconditioning, and en-suites (no idea whether the rooms have en suites or not, but I'd suspect not) Windows will need replacing and so on... But I cannot see why anybody would object to the rooms being modified in such a way if it meant preserving the building as a whole.

Key things for me are the Facade, and the major rooms - the ballrooms, Dining Rooms, and the Grosvenor Suite etc. These should be preserved, and kept as close to their original designs as practically possible. I'd be happy to sacrifice some of the authenticity of the bedrooms in order to achieve this!

I don't believe for one second that it would be unprofitable to do this. I think that the Hotel could become a major tourist attraction in it's own right. I believe that the issue is that Hortons believe that flattening the site, and putting up a soulless box on the site for office use will be more profitable.

Over. My. Dead. Body.