These fascinating images could be the last taken of a historic Liverpool tenement block before it finally undergoes a £6.6 million renovation.
Under plans being considered by the city’s cabinet the Grade II listed Eldon Grove in Vauxhall will be converted into 45 affordable one and two bedroom apartments.
The 93-year-old building is the last remaining original-style tenement building in the city and its plight has been highlighted in the ECHO’s successful Stop The Rot campaign.
Eldon Grove was the first accommodation in the city to consist of blocks of balcony-accessed flats and is now recognised as an important part of Liverpool’s architectural heritage.
It was originally constructed as part of a labourers’ village and was officially opened by the Countess of Derby in 1912 and was last used as student accommodation, but has stood derelict ever since.
Legendary Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly was once pictured watching a game of street football at one of the Eldon Grove flats.
Under new proposals the lease for the site is to be transferred back to the council by current owners JGLT Developments Limited (JGLT).
In exchange the developers are to buy the land at the nearby former Trinity School site.
Documents prepared for the cabinet say Eldon Grove, which is currently classed as a “Building at Risk”, will be able to be brought back into use with developers confident refurbishment could start during the summer.
A report which went before the council in April said the development costs are estimated to be in the region of £6.6 million, of which the council is being asked to contribute £1.25 million which in turn would “would unlock other streams of funding, thereby securing delivery of the project and remove Eldon Grove from the Buildings at Risk Register”.
Amateur photographer Barry Worthington took these pictures recently and he hopes the site will be soon get a new lease of life.
He said: “I grew up in Walton and one of my best friends lived there so I was always there mucking about.
“It’s a shame it’s got in the state it has and I personally hope it can be renovated soon.”
