St Nicholas Market faces £5.5m repair bill
BBCA historic city centre market building needs £5.5m of "critical" repairs, according to a council report.
Councillors at Bristol City Council have committed to invest £550,000 into St Nicholas Market, which was built in 1743, after a report ruled the building's future was uncertain.
The market hosts 63 independent traders who sell food, clothing and arts and crafts, and pay fees to the council to trade there.
More money will eventually need to be sourced externally, but council chiefs said the initial funding will be invested in repairing the building's urgent health and safety issues.
Why the large repair bill?
A council survey of the building's condition identified £5.5m of work which needed to be carried out in the next decade.
The building is Grade II listed, so repairs have to be carried out in keeping with strict conservation rules.
Councillor Andrew Brown, the council's Economy and Skills Policy Committee chair, said: "People know from their own homes that the older things get the more needs doing.
"When you're working in the context of a listed building with historic features, a lot of that work has to be bespoke and therefore it costs more than it might do in a modern building."
He added that the works would "ensure that it is still there for decades to come".
'Uncertain future'
Parts of the building are currently unused, such as the floor space above the market, but the cost of previous improvement plans was more than the council could afford.
The report said previous plans to create an accessible toilet in the Glass Arcade and plans to install a goods lift were paused because the fee quotes "significantly exceeded" the council's expectations.
An evening street food market trial on Corn Street was scrapped because traders felt unsafe and had multiple instances of aggressive begging, the report said.
However, council leaders have stressed that there is no "immediate risk to the market", and says the work is necessary to ensure that it remains a feature of the city.
Lynn Hanby, from the St Nicholas Market Traders Steering Group, said: "The great thing is that this amazing building isn't empty, it's alive.
"It's filled and surrounded by traders who bring energy, character, and that independent spirit that people across Bristol love."
She added: "So as we think about the future, our focus is on ensuring traders remain right at the centre of those discussions.
"The future of St Nick's will be strongest if traders remain right at its heart."
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