A bid to designate the King Alfred Leisure Centre as a listed building has been rejected, clearing the way for its demolition.
A group of residents applied to Historic England asking for the 1930s building to be listed to stop it being knocked down when a new leisure centre is built.
But this week Historic England said it did not meet the criteria and had not made it past the initial assessment stage.
The decision not to list has been published on Heritage England’s Heritage Gateway website here.
It says: “It is acknowledged that the building has been well used by the local and wider community as a social and sporting venue.
“This is of local rather than national interest and is in common with many long-standing leisure and community facilities.”
Brighton and Hove City Council said this support’s the council’s decision to demolish the centre, made after its technical assessments concluded it would be too expensive to refurbish.
The council has decided to build a new leisure centre on the existing car park. The old centre would be kept running as long as possible, and once the new one is up and running, it will be knocked down and flats will be built there instead.
Detailed plans for the new centre are now set to go before the council’s planning committee.
Cabinet member for sport Alan Robins said: “Many people have great affection for the King Alfred, and I understand why. It’s played a big part in our city’s life.
“But the reality is that the building simply can’t be refurbished to the standard our residents deserve.
“The decision from Historic England gives us the clarity we need to move forward and fully focus on redeveloping the site for the west of the city.
“We’ve waited a long time for a new leisure centre for this part of Brighton and Hove, and this year we’ve made real progress, appointing Alliance Leisure, assembling the project team and securing approval to demolish the existing facility so we can redevelop the site with a modern centre.”
The new building should have underground car parking (as all new builds should have) with at least as many as the car park holds at present or more then build away.
Equally let’s hope the new bus stop, drop off / end of line and collection is actually usable and is out of the wind.
The number 7 which really should run down there as it’s terminus should be terminating outside the building, then restarting from the same point to take away the need for people to cross the motorway that is Kingsway
There is already a perfectly safe way to cross……a pedestrian crrossing with lights directly out side the KA.
I’m so sick of a tiny minority of people spreading conspiracy theories on FB and doing everything in their power to stop Hove getting the swimming pool and leisure centre residents want.
These idiots are responsible for workmen being harassed at the site. They refuse to believe that asbestos is dangerous. And now they are trying to list an absolute monstrosity that’s not fit for purpose.
The vast majority of residents want and deserve a decent new pool and facilities fit for the C21st. Not some disgusting old building that’s “retrofitted” for the 100th time.
It’s a cockroach infested eyesore and should be demolished.
Why would anyone want this building listed. It’s been rundown since the 1990s. If you have had the misfortune to use it, you cannot escape the fact that it’s a perfect period example of why the 1950s was a terrible time for architecture. The layout makes no sense at all, the entrance is a wind tunnel, no public transport hub, road outside gives the impression of being on an out of town industrial estate, terrible waste of land space. Add to all that, the building is crumbling. My advice to anyone who wants to waste time by sending buildings like the for listing, get a different hobby. Maybe tennis…
Because they don’t want change and they don’t want anything to be imporved.
They’d have likely objected to it being built in the first place (in the 1930’s). And then objected to it’s name being changed from the original ‘Hove Marina’
And they are of the falsebelief that being listed means it can’t be changed or demolished. When all it means is the council would have to go through a whole slew of additional planning hoops that would add to the cost (which these people would then complain about)
The building has virtually zero actual historic merit. Thousands of local authority facilities were taken over by the government as part of the war effort but that isn’t sufficient to merit listing.
Nor is there much architectural merit of note.
An application for listing in 2016 also failed.
Excellent point about weaponising Listed Status. All it would end up doing in this instance is make the building more expensive to regenerate. Combined with the 2016 rejection, the application was never going to pass.
In good faith, I do wonder what the thought process was there? Was it simply a lack of understanding of what such a process is for, or of the consequences of such an action? I wonder if it’s resistance for the sake of resistance?
I do think there is a lack of understanding about what listing actually means. They may see it as a bar on doing absolutely anything but that’s not the case.
There is probably some resistance for its own sake based on a false sense of nostalgia.
We’ve seen on previous articles on the Alfred a nostalgia for things like the bowling alley which closed 30 odd years ago as though it only shut last week.
Let’s hope a new K.A. is built as soon as possible and smarten up the whole area.
The finances don’t stack up.
This alone will bring down the project.
No listing needed.
Which element of the finances does not stack up, in your opinion?
Any of it. The council’s secrecy about the figures and business plan is also telling.
Secrecy? When there have been numerous reports to various council committees including these from last September?
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=1110&MId=11940
No accountant would accept this detail-light version of project finances. Why should we?
Not sure whether the finances are such as would bring the project down, but the council have definitely been secretive and have rebuffed FOI requests about the costings attached to a refurb, as against demolish and rebuild.
What a dump
We have waited sooooo long for a new sport Center and swimming pool…..let’s get on with it !!!
I’ve been to king Alfred and seen cockroaches, the swimming pool filter is a bit iffy, condensation and very dirty changing rooms !!!!
We pay enough to live here why the flip is our community sports Facility so crap ??????
I’m not surprised the building was rejected for listing, as the bar for that is set pretty high.
But it’s not a piece of rubbish – the original 1930s building is pretty elegant, if you can see past the 30-plus years of neglect. The 70s extension around the back is terrible, however.
Cockroaches and asbestos aren’t a reason to demolish a building. They are, however, a brilliant excuse if you are looking to develop it come what may.