Should Eckersley’s mills follow suit?

Mills

Gaffer’s link: “Demolition work on Oldham's Hartford cotton mill resumes as historic building is to be torn down for housing” (M.E.N.)

I’d really hope against the same fate for Eckersley’s Mills, Gaffer, but could see it being on the cards.

I’d sooner it went the way if Trencherfield Mill in Wigan and Mathers Mill In Leigh:

“Loom Wharf is the conversion of Mathers Mill built in 1882 into 99 luxury, spacious, loft-style apartments at affordable prices.”

www.loomwharf.co.uk

From what I understand though, it’s cheaper to demolish and start again rather than renovate historic buildings. If the government found ways to give incentives then this needn’t be the case.

Although Eckersley Mill was in its time, no doubt a magnificent example of late Victorian Engineering, but it was a massive complex, and although a listed building, I believe that the building is at the end of its life, and has been so for at least 50yrs, maybe even longer, and in those 50yrs or so, a potential buyer of that mill, would have had to have spent millions and millions of pounds on it, with no real prospect of getting their money back, because of the sheer size of such a project, from a complex of buildings of that size, it was just too big.

The buildings are now just rooins, and need getting rid of and then start again on the site, with new housing etc

And doo the same with Pagefield Mill, and get rid and put the land to good use.

Pagefield Mill is really sad to see, TTS. You’re right, Eckersley’s Mills covers a vast site, it’s a shame it couldn’t be divided and one building salvaged at least.

41 years ago in 1980 the Empress Mill had been bought by a bloke from London, and it was being converted into industrial units, and one day I found myself in the company of the that bloke from London, and I went around the site with him and his entourage, and he was climbing ladders, to inspect roofs etc, he was quite a dynamic chap, and he could have been of foreign extraction too, but I couldn't tell, but he wanted units of different sizes, from a tiny room which became a café, to a large unit from which a haulage company operated from, to me he did a good job, because how often do you see any of those units empty ?

Jo Anne

It is a pity that all old buildings cannot be saved, but sometimes it is just not practicable to do so, and as regards to keeping just one building, there would have to be a compelling business case for doing that, because whoever paid for that building would want a return on their investment, whether it was the council who maybe wanted to use it as a public amenity, or a developer who wanted to rent it out, and get a return on it that way.

Who would pay for the demolition of the Pagefield buildingIt is privately owned by some off shore company and this is why the council have their hands tied to how to make it safe with out costing the council(us)money

What ever happens if wigan clowncouncil are involved we all know they will make a complete bollocks ..just like they are doing in the town centre and the market area .. I seriously take on board what TTS ,and Jo Anne have made comments about the mill, but ,i have a different view from the both of them. I really appreciate the cost's could be astronomical ,but when you look at the size of the complex ,Wigan could at a stroke eliminate all the bad and poor housing that we have in the borough.
We all know the area's i'm talking about .The renovation of mill there could be made into very nice accomodation ,after all look at the plan TTS put on here showing those flats they want to build in the centre ,i know it would be very costly but because of the vast size of it ,it could be made into a sort multi purpose type of a village, you could have everything in it shops sports area it could be done and just leave the town centre project on the back boiler , and at the same time preserving the heritage of the building, as i say it's just my opinion .....GB