Last-ditch bid to save Highbury Roundhouse

Published: 19 November, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Highbury Roundhouse from demolition will make a last stand at a meeting with Islington councillors today (Friday).

It follows an announcement that the building in Ronalds Road could be razed to the ground soon after Christmas, bringing to an end its 40-year history as a community centre. The council maintains it would be too expensive to make the building safe. But its management committee now has two reports from surveyors suggesting that refurbishment is possible and a cheaper option.

The latest report is by the Morton Partnership.  Its director, Brian Morton, said: “My preliminary assessment suggests that in no way does the existing building need to be demolished.”

He added that an inspection suggested that the “integrity of the gable wall” – the major structural issue – was holding together very well. “Restraint systems can be built in that will be significantly cheaper than proposed demolition and rebuilding,” he added.

Labour leisure chief Councillor Paul Convery said: “Cracks we found in the summer have visibly worsened. You can now fit your finger into them. 

“It is a dangerous building slipping down the railway embankment and the truth is that the cost of underpinning and repairing the building would be extraordinary, pushing £850,000.

“We cannot afford that, but we are giving the Highbury Roundhouse a firm promise we will find them alternative accommodation.”

Tony Miller, a member of the Roundhouse committee, said: “We hope to persuade the council that there are better options than knocking down a building that has served our community so well.”