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‘Good progress’ is being made as the iconic Littlewoods Pools building is repurposed into a 20,000 sq ft film and TV studio.
Liverpool City Region’s Metro Mayor has been onsite at Liverpool’s historic Littlewoods Pools building, which is set to be transformed into a major film and television complex.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Liverpool City Region, told LiverpoolWorld: “It is something that genuinely in the next few years could animate not just this part of Liverpool but the whole of the city region and transform the reputation of our area into what we want it to be. The Hollywood of the North might seem a bit trite to some people, but why not, and why not here?”
The long-derelict plot is to be repurposed into a 20,000 sq ft film and TV studio, which is hoped to make the city the ‘Hollywood of the North’. Earlier this summer, work began on dismantling the historic clock face at the site after remediation work got underway in the winter.
John Moffat, joint managing director at Capital&Centric, said: “We had laser sensors on that tower that told us it was at risk of collapse. We couldn’t allow that to do further damage to the rest of the structures on site, so it had to be carefully dismantled a couple of months ago.”
Developers Capital&Centric say they’ve made good progress on the site’s next chapter, with the clocktower having been temporarily dismantled after being assessed as unsafe and at risk of collapse. Elsewhere, the building’s walls have been stabilised, and the two wings cleared, ready to be restored and repurposed.
A central hangar – which will become a buzzing food hall, screening and performance zone alongside a lush green courtyard – has also been fully cleared and ready for construction to get going.
The efforts to bring the site to completion have involved Liverpool City Council as freeholders and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has pledged up to £17m to see the vision become a reality. More funding will need to be secured and Mr Rotheram said he would be asking the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to back the project.
- Watch the video to see the progress at Littlewoods Film Studios and the hear more from Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram.
