Shrewsbury Riverside project could give campaigners chance to save Shirehall
The campaign group fighting to save Shrewsbury's Shirehall says it will continue to try to preserve the building after votes to move toward demolition.
This week's decision by Shropshire Council to take the next step in the multi-million pound Riverside project for Shrewsbury included the recommendation to declare the Shirehall building surplus to requirements, and to agree and implement a disposal and marketing strategy for the site off London Road.
Plans could see a cinema, a new 'Shirehall', a 'transport hub', and eventually up to two hotels, offices, and up to 270 homes built on the site of the Pride Hill and Riverside shopping centres.
However the Shirehall decision is subject to approval at full council.
That caveat has been welcomed by Mr John Crowe of the Save our Shirehall group and he said he was pleased that there had been amendments to defer the matter.
He said: "This does give us a window of opportunity to continue to work towards the retention of the building and it does seem that some councillors are singing from the same hymn sheet as us."
"Save Our Shirehall is a campaign group of Shropshire people working to ensure the survival and future use of the 1960's modernist, civic and municipal Shirehall, for the people of Shropshire for whom it was built and who have paid for it. We are continuing to campaign and we have some very interesting irons in the fire."
Mr Crowe, whose father was the architect for the building, said the group was still challenging the demolition of the Shirehall on two grounds.
"One is value for money," he said.
"We believe that the building can be brought up to standard for between £3 - 5 million, which is good value for money compared to the £37 million now suggested for the creation of a new Civic Hub at the Riverside.
"We want a sensible refurbishment to put the sparkle back into the building.
"The other is the embedded carbon of the Riverside project. We have called for an environment impact assessment not only on the demolition of the Shirehall and whatever is built there but also on whatever might be built as a future civic hub.
"Shropshire Council has a climate change strategy so needs to put its actions behind that strategy," he said.
