Lysaghts Social Club, Corporation Road, NewportAs I drove to the local supermarket this afternoon, I saw some people looking at the old Lysaghts building and wondered if at last there might be some movement on a sale there.
The building is just around the corner from where I live, the most distinctive building, it was for many years one of the best architectural buildings in the City. I pass it almost daily and I have seen over the period of time I have lived on Corporation Road that it is just being left to deteriorate, the roof coverings have been removed from large areas by vandals (no doubt sold for scrap) slates stripped away and the removal of fittings and parts of the interior.
The adjacent land has long been sold and a new B&Q store is due to be completed in the New Year, but the Lysaghts building has never sold despite being up for auction earlier this year with a reserve price of £800,000.
A housing developers proposals for the site included potential use for it, but as it is a listed building it was thought to be too costly to refurbish it according to the specification required.
I find it so sad to see this lovely old place just being left to decay because red tape and bureaucracy is preventing a way forward. It is good it has it's 'listed' status, and good there are protective conditions that come with a sale, but all the restrictions sadly mean that potential purchasers are struggling to know what to do with it. In the meantime the vandals have no such qualms about that; they will destroy it, piece by piece for paltry gain.
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