The fate of Preston bus station still hangs in the balance, as an event to support the claim to keep the building is planned for this Saturday.
The event, taking place at gate 81 of the bus station, promises guest speakers, art displays, films and workshops in an attempt to keep the building from being destroyed.
The future of the building has generated a lot of response from locals and officials alike, following the council’s plans to demolish the building, due to high running and refurbishment costs.
However, this plan was met with concerns that the city would suffer in the long term without a bus station of this size and national importance.
The hoped outcome for the building, which is a favourite amongst the people of Preston, is that it should be given listed status; a title which it was denied in 2000.
Amongst the supporters, and one of the guest speakers planned for the event, is Professor Tom Jeffries, head of the school of architecture at Manchester University.
He said that the building is: “One of the great heroic structures in Preston” and that it has: “Turned bus travel into a significant activity rather than a mundane”.
Supporting his claims is another guest speaker, Stella Hall, the festival director for Preston Guild. She said: “It really is an icon for British engineering; it’s kind of an emblem.”
Hall hopes that the event can help save more than just the bus station, as she hopes to use: “The energy of people gathered there to focus on Preston as a whole, rather than just one building”.
The council have already expressed that they do not wish to sell the building, to prevent it being used as anything but a bus station, but stick by their plans to pull it down.
*This post was originally submitted as part of a first year news writing portfolio
The event, taking place at gate 81 of the bus station, promises guest speakers, art displays, films and workshops in an attempt to keep the building from being destroyed.
The future of the building has generated a lot of response from locals and officials alike, following the council’s plans to demolish the building, due to high running and refurbishment costs.
However, this plan was met with concerns that the city would suffer in the long term without a bus station of this size and national importance.
The hoped outcome for the building, which is a favourite amongst the people of Preston, is that it should be given listed status; a title which it was denied in 2000.
Amongst the supporters, and one of the guest speakers planned for the event, is Professor Tom Jeffries, head of the school of architecture at Manchester University.
He said that the building is: “One of the great heroic structures in Preston” and that it has: “Turned bus travel into a significant activity rather than a mundane”.
Supporting his claims is another guest speaker, Stella Hall, the festival director for Preston Guild. She said: “It really is an icon for British engineering; it’s kind of an emblem.”
Hall hopes that the event can help save more than just the bus station, as she hopes to use: “The energy of people gathered there to focus on Preston as a whole, rather than just one building”.
The council have already expressed that they do not wish to sell the building, to prevent it being used as anything but a bus station, but stick by their plans to pull it down.
*This post was originally submitted as part of a first year news writing portfolio