Blaze forces demolition of historic mansion

Jul 8 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Blaze forces demolition of historic mansion

AN HISTORIC building in Wirral was so badly damaged by fire it had to be demolished, council officials said last night.

Flames swept through Wallasey’s Grade II listed Liscard Hall early yesterday morning just months before Wirral Council was set to choose a developer to bring it back into use.

The grand hall was built around 1840 as a rural retirement home for Sir John Tobin, a local merchant and former Lord Mayor of Liverpool.

Following the blaze, the roof of the mansion in Central Park has collaps-ed and the upper floor was destroyed – with further structural damage suspected.

Earlier yesterday, a spokesman for Wirral Council said: “Following the fire which caused extensive damage to Lis-card Hall, structural en-gineers have decided the building has been made unsafe and will therefore have to be demolished.”

While the hall was being demolished, there will be 24-hour security in place around the site.

Liscard councillor Leah Fraser said: “While it looks like the yobs are the cause of this fire, I’m afraid Wirral Council must also take some of the responsibility. The council had allowed this building to fall into disrepair.”

She said the local authority had “dithered in what to do” with the hall and “promises of community use” came to nothing. “Sadly, we can now see the result”.