Fresh hope former Irish Centre could be brought back to life

There is new hope that Liverpool's historic Wellington Rooms could be brought back to life.

The Grade-II* listed neo-classical building on Mount Pleasant was built in the early 1800s and housed Liverpool's Irish Centre from 1965 to 1997. It has been closed since and has cut an increasingly dilapidated figure in the intervening years, showing many signs of urban decay.

It featured in the ECHO’s Stop The Rot campaign, which aimed to preserve Merseyside's rich architectural heritage. In 2018 urgent works were carried out on the neoclassical building in a bid to plug gaps in the roof and slow down the decay of the structure.

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There have been a number of false dawns for the building in the years since the Irish Centre moved out. Plans were approved for it to become a function suite in 2002,but that did not come to fruition.

Planning applications for it to become a hotel were subsequently submitted in 2006 and 2007. However, both proposals were rejected due to the impact of a three storey extension.

In 2017 it was reported that the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University had teamed up with Merseyside Building Preservation Trust and Liverpool City Council in a bid to develop a business and innovation hub. This partnership led to the emergency works being carried out on the building, with a consultation on its future use also carried out, but progress on a full refurbishment was not realised.

When urgent repairs were carried out in 2018, the ECHO was given a look inside the ageing structure which still bears many of its old fittings, including Guinness and Harp lager taps on its bars. Its grand dancehalls and stage areas are still standing but remain in a poor condition after decades of neglect.

A Liverpool City Council spokesperson told the ECHO that the local authority is in the process of appointing a consultant to carry out a condition survey on the building. This is part of wider work the council is undertaking on its heritage assets.

It is hoped that the condition survey could lead to work being undertaken to restore the Wellington Rooms for past glories.

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