Fire museum facing uncertain future after fire station sale falls through

The fire museum is based on the grounds of the old fire station in Maclure Road

The fire museum based on Rochdale road is facing an uncertain future after the sale of the former fire station building fell through.

The Victorian building located on Maclure Road which houses the Greater Manchester Fire Service Museum was put out to tender last year as fire crews prepared to move into a newly built fire station on Halifax Road.

A deal with Grey Wolf Partnership was agreed in December 2013 for £850,000. The purchasers agreed that the museum could remain on site with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue service (GMFRS) expecting to complete the deal by February.

The fire service had also agreed to pay for security on site of up to £2,000 a week until the deal was closed but despite continued efforts to move the sale forward, no progress was made.

Due to timescales and costs, the sale of the building was forced to be called off.

Ged Murphy, Director of Finance and Technical Services at GMFRS, explained: “We agreed to sell Maclure Road following a competitive tender process but the simple facts are that we were no nearer to closing this sale now than we were in December 2013 and there were simply no signs of it proceeding.

“In the meantime we are managing the site with security costs which just don’t add up for local tax payers in Rochdale. For that reason, we have withdrawn from the sale and will now look at options to sell the site again.

“We are in discussion with the trustees at the museum to find a way forward on this.”

It is also understood that GMFRS will take independent advice on the value of the site.

Grey Wolf Partnership were contacted for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.