Old Stafford Library facing new future as theatre and gallery

The Grade II listed Old Stafford Library – which is on the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings list – had recently been on the market with a price tag of £750,000.

But it was recently taken off the market by its owner in an attempt to raise hopes of a rescue.

Now, a business plan has been drawn up by the Stafford Old Library Trust (SOLT) which describes how different areas of the Carnegie Library at The Green, next to the cinema, can be utilised into a theatre, a performance cafe, gallery space, and workshop space.

The trust – which has a 'reasonable bid' rejected for the building – hopes that that there may soon be an opportunity to finally agree a purchase price now it is off the market.

Nicky Barron from the trust, said: "There is a lot of work still to do and much is at stake. Trustees ran tours of the Old Library last year for six months and the condition insight is in a state of worrying disrepair.

"This is a very slow and often uphill struggle. We have had to be extremely patient, waiting for an opportunity to act positively to rescue the Old Library, and we hope that the opportunity might come along before too long."

"Through raising public funds, and working towards long term sustainability a charity such as SOLT could bring the building to a state of good repair and into use for the benefit of the public, providing Stafford with a much needed arts and cultural centre."

Partly funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and opened in 1903, the building, off Lichfield Road, served as Stafford’s library until it closed in 1998. It was sold to a private investment fund and an investor by Staffordshire County Council in 2012.

The trust, which gained charity status in 2015, has been raising awareness about the plight of the Old Library for two years now.

The charity is now now taking pledges from people in an attempt to raise essential funds to start the project rolling, and also demonstrate the commitment of the town to the reclamation and restoration of this important heritage building.

SOLT believes that the building should be bought back into the public sector, restored, and developed as a cultural and arts centre for Stafford.

Stafford Old Library Trust (SOLT) is to hold its second meeting on June 1 at 6.30pm in Stafford Baptist Church, which is located behind the old Carnegie Library.