Inside Liverpool Lime Street's Futurist cinema: Why developers say it cannot be saved

The historic Futurist cinema in Liverpool's Lime Street cannot be saved according to officials behind a huge regeneration project for Lime Street.

These pictures reveal the extent of the damage to the building - which campaigners are fighting to retain.

Concerns are so high over the state of the site that even the facade is considered beyond repair - though a section is set to be incorporated into the new look Lime Street.

The images, released by developers Neptune, show holes in the roof allowing daylight to shine into the auditorium, while trees can be seen breaking through the structure, which has deteriorated over several decades.

The dereliction is so severe that a specialist team of structural engineers asked to investigate the building last month considered parts of it unsafe for even them to enter.

An independent report compiled on the state of the building, seen by the ECHO, paints a damning portrait of its condition.

The Futurist cinema on Lime street today

It concludes: Our internal inspection of the building confirmed the findings of previous reports that it was in advanced state of decay and largely unsafe to access. It became apparent that the main cause of this deterioration is water ingress from the roof which is tracking through the building. This has caused widespread corrosion and rot of the structural fabric.

In particular, the access stair to the front of the building, the first floor room over the main entrance, the main auditorium and the roof are all in advanced state of deterioration and should be considered unsafe. Access to the rear of the building was not possible.

Engineers said the facade of the Futurist, built in 1912, was in reasonable condition but was leaning and that roots were forcing stones to come loose.

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Inside Liverpool Lime Street's Futurist cinema: Why developers say it cannot be saved