PLANNING chiefs have given the go-ahead for the historic Warrington Academy building at Bridge Foot to be converted into flats.
The scheme involves 22 one-bedroom apartments and a communal area and there will be parking for 14 cars.
It will involve extensive alterations to the interior of the building which has stood empty for more than a year.
Warrington Academy dates from around 1757 and was originally a non-conformist college which attracted a number of distinguished tutors and led to Warrington once being described as “the Athens of the North”
Later it was used as a “gentleman’s club” and then stood empty for years, during which time its condition deteriorated.
It was given Grade 2 Listed status in the late 1940s.
But in 1981 it made headlines when it was “moved” on rollers a distance of 19m north to enable road improvements at Bridge Foot.
But it was an ill-fated attempt to move the building because it was subsequently found to be structurally unsound and was virtually completely rebuilt.
An architectural appraisal of the present building, taken into account when planning consent for the flats was being considered, said the building was now merely a facsimile of the original “and a poor one at that.”
Little remained of the original fabric and the building now met the criteria for de-Listing.
However, it retained the presence and character of one of the town’s foremost historical institutions and was a reminder of the once numerous 18th century town houses in Warrington .
