A derelict 14-storey tower block in Sefton is facing demolition after unsuccessful attempts to bring it back into use.
At its Budget meeting next week, Sefton Council is due to earmark £1.5 million so that the building can be taken down.
Vine House, on Kepler Street in Seaforth, is owned by the council.
When Sefton transferred its housing stock in 2006, Vine House was left out from the disposal because of concerns about its long-term sustainability and condition.
It has remained empty ever since.
In a report, Sefton said: “A number of potential schemes have been explored with developers to try to bring the building back into use, however, these potential refurbishment schemes were found not to be viable.
“The Council is therefore continuing to incur ongoing costs for maintenance of the asset and these additional costs have to be found from within existing budgets.
“In the last three years works to Vine House have amounted to approximately £100,000.
“Over this period a potentially significant structural issue has also been identified affecting the external brick columns of the building where significant cracking has appeared. This has been encapsulated and has to be inspected every 12 months via an abseil survey.
“A number of options were reviewed in September 2024 for the future of the building, including demolition which was determined to be the best option considering the previous unsuccessful attempts to bring the building back into use, the ongoing holding costs, the cost of investigating and remedying the structural issue with the columns and the overall impact such a large building has on the local area.
“A budget of £1,500,000 has been identified as being required to demolish the building. Council is therefore requested to approve a supplementary capital estimate of £1,500,000 to be funded by Prudential Borrowing.”
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrown@gmail.com
