‘Bristol City Council does not have the right to sell off Central Library’

Central Library in Bristol is an absolutely splendid example of early 20th century Edwardian freestyle architecture designed by Charles Holden and whenever I pass the building I am overcome by an immense wave of pride to be Bristolian.

Central Library was built in 1906 at a cost of £30,000 taken from the £50,000 left for its construction by Bristol merchant Vincent Stuckey Lean in 1899.

I write this letter for two reasons: The first one is to condemn the recent revival of a long standing threat from Bristol City Council to relocate Central Library; The second reason is to appeal to any living relatives of Charles Holden and Vincent Stuckey Lean to join me in telling Bristol City Council to get their hands off of our assets!

In 2012 Bristol City Council began the process of asset stripping Central Library by leasing the basement of Central Library, once home to the Bristol archives now at the Create centre, to a fee paying school for 125 years. Now, it would appear, they want to finalise the job.

As Central Library was paid for with money specifically donated by a benevolent Bristol citizen to build a new library, I don’t believe that Bristol City Council has the right or authority to sell off or rent out a building that is not only bought and paid for but was built with money that was clearly donated to create something to benefit the lives of all Bristolians for centuries to come.

While I recognise and accept the dire situation councils up and down the country are in due to more than a decade of under investment and devastating funding cuts from the Conservative central government, I do not believe for a second that it is necessary to sacrifice Central Library, and I would even go as far as saying that the council are using the dire national economic situation as an excuse to condone blatant asset stripping.

I can think of several ways in which income could be generated to keep Central Library in its current home:

• The iconic library could be used for functions such as weddings and murder mystery parties.
• Paid guided tours could be conducted for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who flock to Bristol each year.
• Grants could be applied for from Historic England or English Heritage to help with running costs; when there’s a will, there’s a way!

Sadly, I suspect that the council have been looking for an excuse for some time to finally be free of this grade one-listed building in a prime location, so the will is sadly missing on their part at least.

Marvin Rees has already denied the people of Bristol an iconic arena in the centre of Bristol. Surely he can allow us to at least keep one of the few iconic and historic buildings we have remaining?

If the council does decide to press on with this immoral decision then I hope that they will at least return the equivalent of £50,000 in today’s money given as a gift back in 1899 to the Stuckey Lean family.

Liv Fortune is a Bristol citizen campaigning to bring more awareness to the situation surrounding the Central Library

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• ‘Moving Central Library would be an act of violence’
• Central Library could move as part of council cuts
• ‘Bristol’s clean air zone is a ruse to maximise council revenue’
• ‘Enabling people to walk, wheel and cycle safely should be the priority’

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