Office plan lifeline for former post office
SOUTHPORT’S former Crown Post Office could finally be brought back to use five years after its controversial closure.
Services were moved from the historic Lord Street building to the first floor of WH Smith in 2014 as part of cost-cutting measures by the Royal Mail.
The move had angered residents who feared it would make using the services more difficult for the elderly and wheelchairusers.
Now, owner Jason Pickthall wants to restore the increasingly dilapidated landmark 19th century building, which is 5,000 sq ft in size, for a new use as offices in a bid to find a new occupier.
Plans submitted to Sefton Council detail the ambitions for the Victorian building, including extensive repairs and restorations both inside and outside and installing a new mezzanine area above the ground floor.
The ornate building has been for sale around three years, with local businessman Mr Pickthall anticipating interest to use the building as bar or restaurant.
But he said there had only ever been two or three serious inquiries in that time, while it also failed to attract any interest when listed for auction earlier this year.
Mr Pickthall said he was surprised by the lack of interest, having believed it to be in a “prime, desirable location”, and believed that dividing the building into four separate offices would most suit what is needed in the town.
He said: “We’ve had it on the market for a long time, thinking we’d get a bar or restaurant in but doesn’t seem to have happened.
“If anybody wants to come take it on board before the conversion, we’re still happy to listen.”
The proposals were welcomed by Southport BID chair Susannah Porter, who said the BID was in the process of creating a plan covering what to do about the empty shop units on Lord Street.
She said: “It’s a really good development, it’s desperately needed doing and it’s a really beautiful building.
“It’s a welcome development on Lord Street.”
Cllr John Pugh, who represents the town centre for Dukes Ward, said: “This is an important, substantial building with a character and an interesting history.
“It would be good too see it no longer lying fallow but a hub of activity again.
“Many Southport residents will have spent a fair portion of their life in there, queuing and waiting for the mechanised voice to summon you to an available counter.
“Hopefully though we can keep some of its better features while finding a new purpose for it.“