Plan to revive town's former library building
Several attempts have been made to revive the Carnegie Library building in Shipley
- Published
A new bid has been submitted to revive one of the Bradford district's most prominent derelict buildings.
The Carnegie Library on Leeds Road in Shipley has been derelict for decades and currently has vegetation growing out of its stonework.
Carlton Care Group, which provides support for adults with mental health issues and learning disabilities, has revealed plans to refurbish the building and turn it into its new head office.
Bradford Council is expected to decide on the application in September.
The building was constructed as a library in 1905, funded by a grant from Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
More recently the building has been used as a lecture theatre and dance studio, but it has stood empty for years.
Despite its significance in the town, and its impressive exterior design, the building has never been listed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The building was first constructed as a library in 1905
The new planning application would see the building fully refurbished and converted into office space. A nine-space car park would be created to the rear of the building.
The application says: “The office conversion will form the head office/admin team for Carlton Care Group.
“The property has been vacant for a number of years and in a state of poor repair.
“The existing building will be preserved as much as possible and new windows will be in keeping with existing.”
Plans to turn the building into 10 apartments were approved in 2008, but the conversion never started.
In 2021, Carlton was granted permission to convert the building into seven supported living units.
That too never got off the ground, and the company’s new application says: “After deliberation on alternative uses on the site it is proposed to use the property as office.”
The most ambitious plan for the building came as part of a large-scale development of the area that would have included a new supermarket and housing.
These plans, which never went ahead, would have seen the library demolished to make way for an improved junction.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, external, X (formerly known as Twitter), external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk, external