Victorian streets back with flourish in Liverpool

In Liverpool's Granby neighborhood, proud residents and a group of architects have brought back to life the area's four remaining Victorian streets, earning them a nomination for Britain's prestigious Turner Prize for contemporary art.

Once the vibrant heart of the city's black community, "after the (1981) riots, the area was closed down", explains Erika Rushton, chair of Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust.

With clubs and shops closing down, tenants being evicted and homeowners fleeing the area, its traditional Victorian houses were mostly demolished, to be replaced by ugly and discordant social housing.

The last four blocks of terraced houses were saved in the 1990s thanks to a few dozen owners who refused to leave. But all successive renovation projects have failed and three quarters of the 200 remaining houses were empty for more than 20 years.

"In 2010-2011, the last of those schemes collapsed," says Theresa McDermott, resident and manager of the local market with her husband, Joe.

"So we thought: 'What about a plan that says this is not about one big solution for the area, it's about lots of little solutions?'"

A handful of residents began "guerrilla gardening", planting flowers in any spare patch of land. They then painted the windows and doors of abandoned houses and launched a monthly street market.

As part of the CLT, founded by residents in 2011, the council agreed to hand over ownership of 10 houses.

The CLT caught the eye of architectural firm Steinbeck Studios, whose founder, Xanthe Hamilton, was looking for a project on behalf of an investor.

"The backer, who wishes to remain anonymous, says: 'If residents invest their time and energy, I will invest my money'," explains Rushton.

"Instead of seeing people as an obstacle to regeneration, he saw them as an asset."

Steinbeck Studios also put the CLT in contact with Assemble, a group of young architects specializing in projects combining art, design and architecture, particularly in struggling communities.

Thanks to the investor's interest-free $780,800 loan, the CLT was able to raise a further $780,800 and begin renovating 10 houses, of which five are nearing completion.

Others were soon attracted by the area's dynamism, including local social housing groups.

Two of the four streets are now full of scaffolding and swarming with workmen.

"It will be the best place to live in the city, I'm convinced of it," says Ann O'Byrne, deputy mayor of Liverpool.

(China Daily USA 07/07/2015 page9)