Recently Portsmouth City Council have put forward proposals to known down a records office in Museum Road to build homes on the site, but now after a campaign by Stephen Fry, the work has been put on hold and the building could be turned into a Sherlock Holmes Museum.
A group of residents, backed by Stephen Fry want to save the building and transform it into a Sherlock Holmes Museum, but the council had planned to demolish it. After the campaign, and this latest move to pause the demolition work, a full condition survey will now be carried out on the building to consider the options. The building has major structural issues and its future will now depend on the costs of bringing it back to usable condition.
Actor Stephen Fry is a popular audiobook narrator and narrates the Sherlock Holmes audiobooks and starred in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. He urged Portsmouth City countil to ‘seize the moment’ and transform the building into a museum. The idea was put forward because creator Arthur Conan Doyle lived and conceived the character, making the building an ideal location.
More than 1,000 signatures were collected on a petition opposing the housing plans and campaigners are now thrilled that demolition work has been paused. Now campaigners will be awaiting news of the condition survey in the hope that the building can be saved.
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