In addition to the main body of this new listing application, the Society wishes to take this opportunity to present some key events since the first assessment of the building for listing. This includes references to the building s special architectural interest, to attempts to place it under statutory protection, to its public reception and to the current threat of demolition. January 1998: August 2000 September 2000: August 2001: January 2009: December 2009: January 2010: March 2010: May 2010: Thematic survey on Road Transport Buildings by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England includes Preston Bus Station as a building of particular interest. Underpinned by this thematic research, and endorsed by English Heritage's advisory committee, English Heritage recommends that the building should be listed at Grade II. Polls conducted by a local newspaper have revealed a majority support for its listing. Twentieth Century Society supports listing application for PBS. Twentieth Century Society supports review of DCMS s listing decision not to list PBS. Twentieth Century Society submits new listing application. EH recommends listing at Grade II. DCMS rejects EH s recommendation to list PBS at Grade II. Twentieth Century Society requests a review of the listing decision. PBS is voted city s favourite building in a poll by local newspaper Lancashire Evening Post. Page 1 of 6
March 2011: Twentieth Century Society nominates British Brutalism for inclusion in the World Monuments 2012 Watch List. PBS, Birmingham Central Library and South Bank Centre are the three representatives. 1 April 2011: DCMS decision on review request: decision not to list was correctly made; there are no grounds for a review. July 2011: - Tithebarn Regeneration contract expires; - on the same day, the short list for the Stirling Prize 2011 is announced; - the Twentieth Century Society points out that two of the shortlisted schemes are refurbished buildings (one listed, one not listed) and urges Preston to see the potential of re-use of PBS. October 2011: November 2011: WMF accepts the Twentieth Century Society s bid and includes British Brutalism (and PBS) in its 2012 Watch List, as one of the three representative buildings of British Brutalism. - John Lewis pulls out of the Tithebarn Regeneration scheme; - the Twentieth Century Society urges Preston to see an opportunity in these difficult circumstances; - Preston Council Leader Cllr Peter Rankin says he hopes to organise a meeting for people interested in the bus station in December 2011. Page 2 of 6
December 2011: PBS is voted second most popular building Building Design Partnership in their online Placebook for the celebration of their first 50 years. Notably, PBS was the only building from their first decade that made it to the top ten; all other buildings in the first ten places were post-2000. February 2012: April 2012: Despite enough signatures collected by John Wilson, a local campaigner, for the case to be discussed by a full Council, Preston City Council votes against having a referendum on the future of the building. PBS was chosen as the site for BBC1 s principal Easter production (Preston Passion) a programme that strongly manifested the potential of the building for a continuing public role in Preston s city centre. Page 3 of 6
May 2012: An international symposium on the subject of Brutalism. Architecture of Everyday Culture, Poetry and Theory is held in Berlin, with an outstanding list of distinguished speakers from Europe and the USA. Page 4 of 6
July 2012: Modernist architecture in the post-regenerate city symposium organised by In Certain Places and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) employs PBS as their principal case study; Preston City officials (and the author) take part in the panel discussion. Page 5 of 6
July 2012: The author s research+publication proposal for Preston Bus Station: Passionately Loved, Brutally At Risk (Twentieth Century Building Studies no. 2) is in the short list for RIBA Research Trust Awards 2012. December 2012: Preston City Council votes, in principle, in favour of the demolition of the building. In addition to lobbying by The Twentieth Century Society, World Monuments Fund and other conservation or campaigning groups that have long been in support of the retention of the building, the story is covered in the national press, including a double page photo spread in The Guardian (18 December 2012). Readers of The Daily Telegraph, in an online poll, vote to save it by 75 per cent to 25 per cent. The RIBA also holds a strong position and is firmly in favour of the proposition for an architectural competition in order to explore options for the future of the building. Page 6 of 6
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