50 CONTEXT 180 : JUNE 2024 D’Angelico. Exemplary repairs to the former library proceeded under the direction of Insalls. Gutters, rainwater goods and windows were repaired, cement render was replaced with lime, and natural slate was reinstated on the lowest courses of the roof. In October 2021, the county issued a misleading press release: ‘Renovated former Mill Road Library brought back into use… Cambridgeshire County Council has carried out a comprehensive renovation… Nearly £500,000 has been spent on the six-month project… council exploring all options including a leasing agreement or sale’. But the renovation was not comprehensive. The building was only in temporary use, as site office for the city’s developer partners, with toilets and heating brought in. This helped the building to dry out but did nothing to secure its future. It was confirmed as surplus to county council requirements in November 2021; there was no public consultation or discussion of what its future use might be. The public was not allowed to see the magnificent interior, left as an empty shell. The county took credit for a commendation in the 2022 Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards, but disregarded the judges’ comments that ‘the building… urgently needs a viable future to ensure it does not deteriorate again… too early to reach final judgement until an appropriate tenant is found to secure its future’. That August, county officers put the former library up for sale or lease, asking for offers over £700,000. The asset of community value status under the Localism Act gave community groups four weeks in which to express interest. PACT (Petersfield Area Community Trust) did just that, securing a six-month moratorium on open market sale. This gave a very short time for preparing bids. PACT could not take the old library on as it was fully committed to running the city’s adjacent new community centre, so it facilitated a public meeting. Over 50 people brought great interest and ambitions, varying degrees of realism and potentially conflicting requirements. Ideas included an 80–90 seat cinema, a base for the Cambridge Literary Festival and potential arts, music venue and cafe uses. Viewings did not allow the space to be fully appreciated as it had not been vacated. I offered to help interested community groups. Sophie Douglas and Francis Maude of Insalls briefed me on the repairs and challenges, including that the artificial slates on most of the roof were asbestos-containing Chrysolite. The prospective cinema operator had his specialist architect, and a proposed House of Literature joined the potential mix. Most wanted to insert an extra floor, potentially fraught with problems given the lowness of the ties. The library floor level was 600mm above the external level, but the city’s development had left no external space for a ramp. After a further big meeting, with pro bono input by Insalls, the community initiative coalesced into an arts bid (https://millroadlibrary. com) supported by 750 organisations and individuals, which (after heroic efforts by its convenor Matthew Webb) was submitted by the deadline. It proposed initial lease followed by purchase, conditional on obtaining planning and other approvals. It was impossible, within the time available, to have any pre-application discussions with council officers. In March 2023 the Cambridge Independent reported ‘Former Mill Road Library sold with ‘no consultation’’. The county officers’ report on the sale had recommended Bidder A, on a confidential matrix. No public details of the eight bids were given. None had been subject to pre-application discussions with the city. County councillors agreed the recommendation. Bidder A was Centre 33, a young people’s charity. Centre 33’s architects worked to develop a viable scheme, but no planning application was made. The former library stood empty and forlorn amid the crowds of the 2023 Winter Fair. In January 2024, county councillors were told that Centre 33 had withdrawn, due to the more than £1 million cost of refurbishment. The asset of community value status expired, but PACT persuaded the city council to renew it. The county put the former library back on sale, again for £700,000. Two community groups expressed interest, triggering a second moratorium. Previous bidders were invited to The carved stones of a Hindu shrine, formerly in the library building, were rescued and installed as a Gateway from India, seen here at its opening, with an 1838 former workhouse in the background. (Photo: John Preston)
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