Barton’s historic Salvation Army citadel is up for sale as the organisation prepares to move to new premises.
The grade two listed building in Queen Street is on the market for £199,000 after the Salvation Army purchased the Carnival Inn building in Tofts Road.
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MOVING OUT: The Salvation Army citidal, Queen Street, Barton
The pub closed in December 2009 and has stood empty since then, although the Salvation Army won planning permission to change its use to a hall of worship in November of that year.
Captain Nick Cotterill, corps officer at the Salvation Army’s Barton-Upon-Humber branch, said the 150-year-old Queen Street building, which has belonged to the organisation since the 1960s, was becoming too expensive to maintain.
He said: “We are looking to re-locate our church from Queen Street because the building is now costing us far too much money to maintain and keep as it is.
“It is a grade two listed building and requires a lot of repair, so the Salvation Army has been looking for the past 20 years for suitable premises and when the Carnival Inn came up, we decided to go for that.
“We haven’t drawn up any firm plans as to how we are going to redevelop it yet but the Carnival Inn is going to be our new church.”
The move to the Carnival will provide the Salvation Army with dedicated parking facilities for the first time, as well as improving disabled access and providing more usable space.
At the time of the change of use application, rumours circulated about the possibility of the Carnival Inn building being used as a hostel by the Salvation Army, but Mr Cotterill insisted this would not be the case.
He said: “What we do in Queen Street is what we will do in Tofts Road. We will be moving our Sunday programme half a mile up the road.”
So far, the Carnival Inn has cost the Salvation Army £264,000 and the charity intends to pay for the required extensive redevelopment of the building using proceeds from the sale of the Queen Street base.
Mr Cotterill said: “It is going to be a redevelopment on a large scale.
“We have got a meeting in early January with different groups within the Salvation Army, such as the property and finance departments, and we will discuss with them the way forward.
“We don’t know how long it is going to take because the plans all have to be okayed at this end and by our divisional headquarters.”
And Mr Cotterill said he was unsure what would happen to the Queen Street building after its sale.
He said: “The board outside it says there is a development opportunity and, with a bit of imagination, I can see it being a development opportunity.
“But it is a grade two listed building and some of the interior is also grade two listed.”