Pretty in pink ... how Boston's Club Assembly might look ...

After years of indecision, it looks as though Boston Borough Council is about to dump the town’s historic Assembly Rooms on a private operator.
The reason is that this fine example of Regency architecture, which was completed in 1822, is now in such a state that the council can’t afford to carry out much needed and significant repair and maintenance works.
The reason, of course, is that instead of carrying out maintenances on a regular basis over time – in affordable chunks – the borough has regarded the task as a single project, which was therefore always beyond the reach of the budget.
Had it structured a plan for the building, it would today still resemble the gleaming confection which is so hilariously still used by the council on its website.
In budgetary terms, the figures are not really that horrendous.
It’s estimated that £150,000 needs to be spent to repair and re-decorate the outside of the Rooms, with an un-assessed amount to improve the public rooms.
Given the cost, the answer in council-speak is “to devolve the council’s ongoing financial liability by offering the Assembly Rooms to the market for outright purchase, leasehold sale or lease."
In other words, get rid of it.
A report for tomorrow’s meeting of Boston’s Cabinet says that various options for the Assembly Rooms have been considered in recent years and they have been advertised nationally with previous interest being shown, At that time, councillors did not consider the use of the upper floor as a nightclub was appropriate.
However, all that might change, as the council has been told that the best potential returns from any deal would be made on the basis that any relevant permissions could be secured and that the council itself will not place any restrictions on the future use of the asset - outside of those which could be imposed through normal processes, such as change of use planning permissions, building regulation consents, listed building consent and the like.
So, the wording seems to suggest that Club Assembly might not be ruled out.
But how about the colour?
White is very difficult to keep looking good and is a tad prosaic for a nightclub.
So how about a pink version - like the one at the top of the page? Or blue (right.) Our photo impressions speak for themselves – but we would hope that listed building consent rules might have something to say about that!Meanwhile, options for the disposal of the Assembly Rooms could include a freehold sale, a leasehold sale for a term between 85 and 125 years, or a long lease of “the entire asset” – including the public toilets.
Redecoration of the exterior of the rooms would be a given – and  pricing would reflect this condition.
Although the Assembly Rooms are nothing to write home about, they do form a prominent piece of the heritage that our councillors are forever banging on about, and one thing is almost certain – if the building moves into private hands, its appearance will change -  and let us not forget that it is a prominent landmark in the townscape and features in the majority of photographs which are seen worldwide - such as the view on the left.
What a shame that – not for the first time, and probably not for the last – Boston Borough Council has been so neglectful of its history.
But selling off the family silver seems to be its only answer these days.
Already, we have seen the Peter Paine Sports Centre gifted to Boston College for a piffling rent, which has  freed the college to close and dispose of the De Montfort Campus – presumably at something of a profit.
Then of course there is the Moulder Training Pool deal, which - whilst not a disposal of assets - is a redirection of a major part of the facility for use by a select fee paying group.
And what of the PRSA – the council’s major asset, valued last year at more than £11 million - will it continue to be a bottomless pit for borough council investment?
Boston Borough Council is supposed to be ending PRSA funding – but as we warned the other day, since the stadium “won” a two-week booking from the Egyptian paralympics team a year from now – which is beyond the period when it was told it could no longer  expect to enjoy more taxpayer cash – it is hard to see the council refusing extra money if the sledgehammer of bad publicity is used to persuade it.
We can even hear the council justifying it already ...

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