People living and shopping in Nottingham have been urged to "see the beauty" of its most iconic department stores. It follows the release of a report which urged the 'imaginative reuse' of five of the city's buildings.
SAVE Britain's Heritage, a group seeking to protect historic buildings, compiled a list of the country's most at risk former department stores, as well as those that had been "given new life". Many are facing an uncertain future as high street retail continues its decline into 2022.
A department store in Mansfield was also listed in the report. It argues these so-called 'cathedrals of commerce' should be brought back in to use in imaginative and innovative ways which respect the buildings' history.
Read more: Six department store buildings across Nottinghamshire most at risk, according to report
Highlighted as an 'at-risk' store by SAVE Britain's Heritage is Griffin & Spalding, most recently Debenhams, in old Market Square. It also includes the old Jessop & Son, Woolworths, Co-operative House and Boots buildings, all of which are otherwise occupied.
Annette Clay, a 65-year-old flower stall holder from Nottingham, said that the city was "blessed with beautiful buildings". "We have loads of original buildings like Boots which is now Zara," she said.
"I think these buildings are neglected because I think people don’t take enough notice of them because they never look up, they’re always looking down. Look up, see the beauty.”
Student Lilly Nugent, referring to the former Boots building, added: "It's really beautiful and it's definitely a central point of Nottingham and it catches your eye as you walk through."
Speaking on the old Debenhams, Marcus Nolan, of Derbyshire, said it would be "a great shame" to see it lose its character. The 67-year-old said: "The Debenhams frontage is quite a clear example of early 20th-century architecture, and it’s quite a substantial frontage.
"It would be a great shame to see that being replaced by something more monochrome. If you look across the square, you can see what I’m talking about. So let’s go for some of our history and heritage.”
Frida Williams, of Sherwood, added: “They’re important for heritage reasons. People can walk and look. It’s the same with a zoo; people can see the different animals, here it’s something to reflect on the years gone by.”
