Leeds nostalgia: More than twenty years of campaigning for action over First White Cloth Hall
Wind the clock back 20 years and Dr Kevin Grady, then chair of Leeds Civic Trust, was campaigning for the renovation of the First White Cloth Hall.
The building is the oldest building on Leeds’s oldest street, Kirkgate. Over the years it has fallen into disrepair. In June 1991, Dr Grady was calling for its renovation and to that end was displaying some old drawings of how it looked in 1710 and comparing them to how it looks at the time.
The trust was campaigning for the retention of major architectural features in the hall.
Two decades on and plans have finally been approved for the renovation of the building. Rushbond’s plans include creating a new retail hub, emphasising many of the original building’s main features.