Last updated at 12:45, Monday, 24 November 2008

A FORMER community centre which was revamped with almost £2m of public money is to be let out as office space.

Barrow’s Victoria Hall was sold for £110,000 at auction in London on November 3.

The former Victorian Sunday school was reopened in 2004, following an estimated £2m revamp.

Original owner, charity Community Action Furness, went into liquidation in 2007. The building closed its doors in July, leaving a number of organisations without facilities.

Buyers, KUIS Property and Business Consultants, are advertising the Grade II listed building as office space to rent.

Charity Community Action Furness came up with the idea to rescue the hall from its dilapidated state in 2003.

Stuart Evason, former chairman of CAF, believes that the hall should have remained a centre for the community.

He said: “The grants we were awarded to revamp Victoria Hall were obtained with the understanding that the building would be of benefit to the local community.

“The fact that it is now being rented out as office space is a huge loss to Barrow.

“For it to sell at £110,000 was a very, very disappointing price. It is very sad for all those who were involved with it from the start.”

Barrow-based charity Drop Zone Youth Projects was looking to purchase the building in order to create a youth hub with other organisations in the area. But the sale collapsed in October.

Terry Spurling, a Drop Zone trustee said: “It is a real shame that Victoria Hall never went to a locally based company or organisation.

“Drop Zone was contacted by a company in London before the building went to auction and we were asked if we would be interested in renting space.

“Perhaps the same people bought it and it would have been wonderful if we could have got Victoria Hall but sadly it was not meant to be.”

The Reverend Ian Huck, of St Mark’s Church, which is next door to the hall on Rawlinson Street, had also expressed an interest in buying the building.

He said: “The church was looking at buying it, but nothing ever came of it. If we had bought the hall, it would have been for church use and to benefit the local community. The people who used it previously are now losing out.

“I do not wish the buyers any ill, but I think with today’s financial climate they might struggle renting the rooms out as office space.”

Barrow and Furness Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease support group held meetings at the hall for two years.

It was forced to move to the Age Concern building on Abbey Road, Barrow after the closure.

Peter Elwell, group chairman, said: “It is such a shame that such a beautiful building is being sold as office space. As if we don’t have enough office space in Barrow. Look at Emlyn Hughes House.

“I cannot understand how it got to the stage it did and how it sold for such a ridiculous price.”

Mr Elwell said the group’s move to Age Concern was meant to be temporary until Victoria Hall reopened its doors.

He said: “We were hoping that a charity would buy the hall and keep it as it was before, so we could return there because it had everything we needed – disabled access and storage space. But it looks like, for the foreseeable future, we will be at Age Concern.”

First published at 11:46, Monday, 24 November 2008
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk