City centre street scheduled to reopen after safety fears
LIME Street in Liverpool, closed to make safe the derelict former Futurist Cinema, will reopen on Thursday (June 9).
It follows the completion of an independent structural report – ordered by a Court of Appeal judge – after SAVE Britain’s Heritage objected to the council’s proposed method for making the building safe.
Work has already been carried out removing the pediment and making safe the parapets, and over the coming days more will be done in line with the recommendations of the buildings expert, who visited the site last week.
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said: “This has taken far longer than we would have liked and work would have been completed shortly after the road closed had it not been for the legal action brought by SAVE Britain’s Heritage.
“We have had to follow the instructions of the Court of Appeal Judge, who ordered we resolve the disagreement by bringing in a new independent structural engineer to carry out another inspection and write a fresh report.
“This has now been completed and we will now be carrying out the works that the engineer has recommended. This will be completed by next Thursday, but we can’t open the road before it is declared completely safe. Public safety must be our utmost concern.
“Once again, we would like to thank motorists and commuters for their ongoing patience while the work is completed.”
The closure is from Skelhorne Street to Copperas Hill with pedestrian access maintained on the side of Lime Street opposite the Futurist.
