For decades until 2008 the Post & Echo print hall in Liverpool printed thousands of newspapers every day – now it is set to become a leisure venue and health club with 10 padel courts. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool Echo owner Reach Plc has sold the former Post & Echo print hall to a leisure operator and is set to become a padel and health club.
For decades the building in Old Hall Street housed the Liverpool Post & Echo offices, including the newsroom, with the printing presses below printing thousands of newspapers every day.
However, in 2008 Reach, which published newspapers across the UK, consolidated its North West operations into a single large printing site in Oldham. While the newsroom and offices remained in Liverpool, the print hall was closed down.
Following the closure of the Daily Post, the Echo the remaining Echo staff, including the journalists, relocated to St Paul’s Square just a few yards off Old Hall Street. Since then the building has converted into a hotel and restaurant with some office space as well.
Plans to convert the building into a padel club, with 10 courts, complemented by workspace, health and “wellness resources” are currently being discussed with Liverpool City Council.
Proposals include padel courts with a training academy, spa and recovery facility, gym, bar and kitchen, and a shop selling sportswear and equipment, together with a dedicated co-working, networking and corporate hire space.
This 39,500 sq ft building fronts King Edward Street and the deal incorporates adjacent land, until recently used as a surface car park. The huge Goss printing machines and folding and assembly lines remain in place, and work has now begun to dismantle them.
John Fay, speaking for operator Echo Padel, said: “We’re incredibly excited about what this building can become. We see it playing an important role both for the business district and the wider city centre.
“The age of the social city is here, with workers and residents embracing lifestyles that increasingly blur the lines between socialising and working.
“The print hall has an extraordinary history and has played its own part in Liverpool’s story for more than 50 years. We don’t want to erase that history. We want to give it a new purpose that supports the city as it continues to evolve.
“For decades, stories were printed here and sent out across Liverpool. Now we have an opportunity to write the building’s next chapter.”
John added the venture is on schedule to submit a planning application in the coming days, with a target opening date of the second quarter of 2027, subject to approval.
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The facility is being designed by Liverpool-based architects Falconer Chester Hall. Hill Dickinson acted as legal advisors to the purchasers, with MHA advising on the commercials.
Other professionals supporting the project include Pegasus (planning), FutureServ (M&E), Studio Two (interior design), Edge (structural engineers), Curtins (transport planning), Delph Projects (project management), Alt Fire (fire safety) and Anderton Gables (health and safety).