Ashton Court Mansion set to be transformed into a "crown jewel" of Bristol
The Bristol Historic Buildings Trust is hoping to complete renovations within 2 years
A trust in Bristol is hoping to completely transform Ashton Court Mansion into a co-living, events and community space.
Plans to rescue and revitalise the Grade I-listed property have taken a huge step forward after Bristol city councillors unanimously agreed to hand over the crumbling venue to Bristol Historic Buildings Trust (BHBT).
The Trust will carry out urgent repairs and draw up detailed plans to create a bright future for the property after it warned the mansion faced a “catastrophic decline” if nothing was done soon.
"People are always shocked by how derelict it is," said BHBT founder Norman Routledge, "in most places there are no ceilings, no floors, you can see from the ground floor right up to the roof itself."
"Lots of people have got memories of either getting married there or having parties there.
"It should be a real jewel in the crown for the city, and there it is crumbling away with the roof leaking."
The Trust's proposals include repairing the leaky roof, installing a new heating, hot water and power system, sorting drainage problems, and sprucing up the ground floor rooms.
In the long term, Norman Routledge hopes to open the building to charities for free, as a community space, and build affordable co-living areas inside the property.
The trust has an ambitious target of 2 years to complete the rennovation.
"I would be horrified if in two years time it wasn’t finished," added Mr Routledge.
"I have pancreatic cancer which means I’ve got a life expectancy of between 3 to 6 months, so I’m going to get as much done in that 3 to 6 months as I possibly can.
"When I first started out, I’d been skint for many years and now this is my opportunity to give back to the city so it’s really important to get it going again.
"The whole community of Bristol needs to have that venue up and running for its own use."