The Con club - Page 7

susie123 · 19-05-2012, 13:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobertol

Don't know why but the idea of saving just the facade has me thinking of American westerns where the towns look real and then are just fronts held there by wooden props!

Never heard of it Sue - bit like cutting off your nose to save your face. Replacing solid stone with breeze blocks behind the scenes doesn't grab me as an idea.

Facadism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not sure that buildings like the Con Club would have solid stone behind the facade - probably more like the nineteenth century equivalent of breeze blocks.

We have an example of facadism in Lancaster - contoversial at the time of building a few years ago but the fuss seems to have died down now.

New Apartment Development at the old Bus Depot:: OS grid SD4862 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!

Look at the other photos on this website for this gridsquare for more views of the development.

maxthecollie · 19-05-2012, 13:14

Make a good Mosque

susie123 · 19-05-2012, 13:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxthecollie

Make a good Mosque

Little need for that round here - those of the Muslim faith are few and far between. We do have a Polish church though!

jaysay · 19-05-2012, 13:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobertol

I think the Con Club has a quite a special place in a lot of townsfolks hearts as many of them remember dancing there and going to "dos" of one kind or another. My parents met there and got together at a dance and I also went a few times for dances connected to school and then to work as a caterer sometimes.

It seems a shame to lose it to dereliction. Money for silly marble benches on Broadway and other white elephants around town can be found when necessary but when they just dont want to do something they hide behind the cries of "no money".

Dianne, this building would take some very serious money to put it back to its former glory and you have to ask what would a building like that be used for this day and age. Times have changed, people do different things, youngster would rather go to bars and pubs with entertainment, the days of Saturday night at the Con are from another age and won't be coming back, sad but all so true

jaysay · 19-05-2012, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by susie123

Correct me if I'm wrong but surely one of the stumbling blocks here is that the building is not a "public" building as such and doesn't belong to the council but is in private hands. That means there would be more hoops to jump through if the council did decide they wanted to save the building.

Don't know if it's still a fashionable idea in architectural circles but recently one trend has been facadism - saving the front of a building and constructing a new one behind it. If the Con Club really is in such a bad state then this might be an idea as the front is the memorable bit. It might be cheaper in the long run than trying to renovate what is there already. I don't know, I'm not an expert in these matters, but I wonder if the idea has been given any thought.

Well you are right susie, it isn't a public building, don't know who owns it, but I think it is protected by English Heritage, which is a toothless tiger really, its okay saying we can't lose these buildings but do sod all to help fund the upkeep, its the same with Rhyddings mill, that is dangerous and has been for years although the chimney has now been sorted, I think

susie123 · 19-05-2012, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaysay

Well you are right susie, it isn't a public building, don't know who owns it, but I think it is protected by English Heritage, which is a toothless tiger really, its okay saying we can't lose these buildings but do sod all to help fund the upkeep, its the same with Rhyddings mill, that is dangerous and has been for years although the chimney has now been sorted, I think

Yes, it is grade II listed by English Heritage but as I mentioned in post 86 they are only interested in the outside, for its streetscape value I guess. The inside is dismissed as unimportant.

AS far as I am aware the listing means that change of use etc is limited and also materials used in maintenance and renovation are strictly controlled. I don't there are any pressures on owners of listed properties as far as upkeep is concerned which is why so many are allowed to decay, probably in the hope they will fall down or have to be demolished thus freeing the land for more profitable development. Either that, or the time delays in obtaining planning permission caused by the building's being listed means that the building's decay is inevitable.

These remarks come from me as an ex-owner of a listed building: the house we lived in before we moved to Morecambe. So they are reasonably accurate I hope.

jaysay · 19-05-2012, 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by susie123

Yes, it is grade II listed by English Heritage but as I mentioned in post 86 they are only interested in the outside, for its streetscape value I guess. The inside is dismissed as unimportant.

AS far as I am aware the listing means that change of use etc is limited and also materials used in maintenance and renovation are strictly controlled. I don't there are any pressures on owners of listed properties as far as upkeep is concerned which is why so many are allowed to decay, probably in the hope they will fall down or have to be demolished thus freeing the land for more profitable development. Either that, or the time delays in obtaining planning permission caused by the building's being listed means that the building's decay is inevitable.

These remarks come from me as an ex-owner of a listed building: the house we lived in before we moved to Morecambe. So they are reasonably accurate I hope.

Certainly wouldn't doubt you susie, EH is a thorn in everybody's side, its fine wanting to keep these old buildings but they do nothing to assist in the upkeep, which to me is wrong

Lost in Cornwall · 20-05-2012, 21:40

A Grade 2 listed building has to have the outside maintained in its original state and can only be changed inside with permission. I have some responsibility as a trustee for a Grade 2 building that was badly damaged by fire 4 years ago and we currently have permission to bring the inside up to modern day standards providing we put the external structure back as close to the original as we can. We are still jumping through hoops to allow that to happen though. Grade 2 star and Grade 1 are virtually impossible to alter at all.

dotti34 · 23-05-2012, 09:35

Never mind, all you spring chickens. Let's get serious with this memory thing. Who remembers dancing to Joe Loss and the like at the Con Club, as well as the regular Con Club band in the late 40's early 50's. The old fellow does!!!!!

jaysay · 23-05-2012, 09:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotti34

Never mind, all you spring chickens. Let's get serious with this memory thing. Who remembers dancing to Joe Loss and the like at the Con Club, as well as the regular Con Club band in the late 40's early 50's. The old fellow does!!!!!

Joe Loss at Accy Con, think it was his brother Dead Loss

dotti34 · 23-05-2012, 09:56

Lots of famous bands did the rounds in those days - performing at places like Accrington Con, Blackburn's King George's Hall, Nelson Imp, Rawtenstall's Astoria, etc., etc., and all for the same price of admission as the usual Saturday night. No extra charge for dancing to the famous. Boy! those were the days.

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/i...le/theband.gif

jaysay · 23-05-2012, 09:58

Don't think the band in the link was one of um

dotti34 · 23-05-2012, 10:02

You had to be there......

jaysay · 23-05-2012, 10:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotti34

You had to be there......

Have you checked that link

dotti34 · 23-05-2012, 10:39

It's called poetic license - and before you say you've never heard of them that's NOT the name of the band. (Actually I have to admit I was trying to be clever by adding this to my message but somehow it didn't work properly - oops!).