- The Lyceum, Liverpool
Infobox Historic building
caption=
name=The Lyceum
location_town=Liverpool
location_country=England
architect=Thomas Harrison
client=
engineer=
construction_start_date=1800
completion_date=1802
date_demolished=
cost=
structural_system=
style=Neo-classicalThe Lyceum was a gentlemen's club in Bold Street,
Liverpool ,England . It also housedEurope 's first lendinglibrary , and in later years was pressed into service as the city’s headpost office . Thecolonnade d front looks out onto Bold street. A side entrance to Liverpool Central station is to the right.The
Neo-classical building was designed byarchitect Thomas Harrison ofChester and was built between1800 -1802 . The club's founders, members of the Liverpool Literary and Philosophical Society – who included several of Liverpool's abolitionists (notablyWilliam Roscoe ) – wanted to establish an alternative meeting place to the often rowdy merchants’ coffee houses.The Lyceum also became home to Liverpool's subscription
library , founded in1757 . This is believed to have been the first circulating or lending library in Europe. There were 888 members of the Library in1814 .The Lyceum also inspired
Manchester 'sPortico Library , whose founders also commissioned Harrison to design that building.Prints from
1831 describe the Bold Street building as the 'Lyceum Newsroom and Library' – the Lyceum had separate entrances to the coffee house and library areas. The coffee house later expanded and the Lyceum Gentleman's Club took over almost the entire building for over 150 years. After the Club relocated, the Grade II*listed building was threatened with demolition during the late 1960s and early 1970s, but protests forced the UK government’sDepartment of the Environment to purchase it from its property developer owner.After some years of neglect, the building was sold to the Post Office in
1984 with a view to it housing a philatelic museum and Liverpool's head post office. These plans were later varied to allow parts of the building to be used by a building society, for retail purposes and as a restaurant. Work eventually started on site in1988 . During the late 20th century, the building's use changed again, with a section becoming a busy bar/café (called variously: 'Life Bar', 'Prohibition', 'The Bar and Grill', 'Lyceum Café'). In March2004 , it was announced that the Post Office was to close.External links
* http://www.ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/28/cold_dir/cold_s.htm
* http://liverpool.stock308.com/s308-Liverpool-121_2169.htm
* http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/liverpoolatnight3/lyceum.html
* http://www.sjsfiles.btinternet.co.uk/imgs09n.htm
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.