Gallery vision goes up in smoke with disused fire station demolition

NORTHUMBERLAND County Council will proceed with plans to demolish Hexham’s former fire station despite interest from Angel of the North artist Antony Gormley in obtaining the site for a gallery.

- JAMES ROBINSON Local democracy reporter

The former Hexham fire station, and left, Sir Antony Gormley

Sir Antony has a longstanding association with the town and submitted plans that would’ve seen the disused station used to store his work and potentially exhibit it publicly in the future.

However, the council had plans to demolish the building and extend an existing site compound next door in order to provide space for a new fleet of vehicles needed for additional recycling duties.

After three months of investigations, the Conservative-led administration has decided to proceed as planned.

At yesterday's meeting of the council's cabinet, leading members expressed a desire to work with Sir Antony's charity The Foundation Foundation to locate a cultural space at an alternative council property closer to the town centre.

Council leader Glen Sanderson said officers had looked at alternative options for the site compound, but they had proved to be financially unviable.

He said: “As part of our investment into our services, we decided some time ago to build a brand new, fit-for-purpose depot for our local service team in Hexham.

“We also allocated money for the demolition of the old fire station within this year.