Work is to finally begin on converting the abandoned Greenbank synagogue in Liverpool into an apartment complex, according to local media.
The Liverpool Echo and other local sources report that the company making the conversion, Green Drive Ltd, has announced that work will begin “within the next few months” and should be completed within a year and a half.
Planning permission was granted in 2017 to convert the Grade II listed Synagogue into 22 apartments, as well as to build 36 new apartments within the grounds.
The firm NCArchitecture posted plans for the conversion in 2016 — but these no longer appear on the firm’s web site.
The retained building will house a refurbished small synagogue (Beth Ha’medrash) for those remaining members and any others that wish to visit, plus a quiet room/gallery/reading area, containing the original pews, to showcase the synagogue’s history. A small coffee area will also be created within the new “internal street” adding to the “sense of community”.
The new Liverpool Echo article, by Nick Tyrrell, said
A spokesman for [Green Drive Ltd] said that the ‘challenging’ nature of the project and their intention to retain natural features of the building led to the long period between the plans being approved and work starting.
The red-brick synagogue was designed by the noted Liverpool architect Sir Ernest Alfred Shennan and built in 1936/37. It served its congregation until January 2008, when dwindling numbers forced the community to move and close the building. A 2008 proposal to turn it into apartments was blocked — thanks to the efforts of the 20th Century Society, which got the building upgraded to Grade II heritage status — and the building has stood empty since then.
The abanonded building appears to be a favorite with “Urbex” explorers. We reported last month how “Urban explorers” broke into the abandoned Greenbank Synagogue in Liverpool, England and one of them — who goes by the name “The Little Nuisance” — crashed through the sanctuary’s fragile ceiling. He dangled from the gaping hole and nearly fell onto the sanctuary floor 12 meters below.
Read the entire Liverpool Echo article