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Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Nottingham: 17 historic statues still missing from building after seven years

Concerns have been raised about a set of 17 historic statues which have now not been seen in public for seven years following their removal from a listed Nottingham building.

The Elite building is Grade II listed and sits at the corner of Queen Street and Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham city centre.

It originally opened in 1921 as a picture house, before the cinema closed in 1977 and became a bingo hall. It was later converted into shops and office space.

A range of white statues sat in niches around the top of the structure, including figures representing Shakespeare and Michaelangelo.

The statues were removed for restoration in 2017 as part of a redevelopment planned by London-based property investor, Steinberger Developments Limited.

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A planning application to the City Council in 2017 by previous owners of the building saw an extensive restoration project in which the damaged masonry would be repaired and the statues removed for restoration.

The company bought the building for around £3 million, and planned to turn part of it into luxury student accommodation.

But Steinberger has since gone into liquidation and sold the building around September last year.

A Steinberger representative says that they had organised the sale of the building through an agency and did not know the identity of the new owner.

Delays in registering the building’s transfer at the Land Registry mean there is not yet a public record of who the new owner is.

It is understood the statues were removed, dismantled and kept stored in the building in 2017. Steinberger planned to have them restored by specialists Hathern Terra Cotta, who are still in business having made the originals in the 1920s.

Only three statues are currently present on the Elite. Planning documents and old images show there were originally 20.

The Hathern name is now owned by Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC and the their terra cotta and faience wares are made at their Charnwood Brick Works location in Shepshed.

A spokesperson for Michelmersh Brick Holdings said: “The statues were taken down and stored in the building in 2017- Hathern did the quote for it.

“About once a year I get asked to update the quotation, but that hasn’t happened for a bit.

“We quoted for all the replacement pieces in 2017 but nothing has happened since then- we have a pair of legs so that’s all.

“We are hoping at some point, because it’s a listed building and they’re very fine statues, we will supply a replacement unit and they will be put back.”

Hilary Silvester, Executive Vice President of Nottingham’s Civic Society, said: “Some years ago when they were going to repair it, the roof and guttering, they had to take the statues down otherwise they would have damaged them.

“They knew it would be quite expensive to put them back up again, people have said [the statues] belong to the listed building, [it’s as if] someone said ‘if they’re gone for a year no one will notice it’.

“It’s a pity they’re not there, they should be there, they’re part of the listed building- they’re very quirky.”

Retired Nottingham resident Paul Simpson has also tried to confirm the location of the missing statues, but has had no luck.

He said: “As that building was being cleaned up I kept thinking ‘I wonder when they were going to put the statues back up, and I followed it up a few years later.

“I did speak to Nottingham City Council planning officers but they didn’t seem to be able to get anywhere with it.

“It’s part of the heritage of Nottingham that could be lost really- it did make the building look really good.”

Buildings are designated as ‘listed’ by Historic England, meaning they are legally protected from being damaged or altered by development. Local councils are then responsible for ensuring listed buildings are protected and can issue legal orders to developers who damage or fail to maintain them.

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “Local authorities rely on incidents to be reported – councils are unfortunately not able to constantly monitor all listed buildings in their area.

“If any protected property appears to have been altered without permission, we will investigate further and can ultimately take action against the owner if necessary. This includes prosecution in the most serious cases.”

A spokesperson for HM Land Registry, responsible for keeping a public record of the building’s ownership said: “We received an application to transfer ownership of the Elite building on 30th October 2023. However, there are currently delays in processing some registration applications.

“If the delay in completing these applications is causing difficulties, such as putting a property sale or any kind of property transaction at risk, then the applicants can ask us to expedite their application, which means we will action it within 10 working days.

“It’s worth noting that legal ownership rights are secured from the moment we receive the application, not at the point at which it is completed.”

 

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