Turn Old Courthouse into Major Tourist Attraction
London has no real tourist attractions. Anyone that thinks Storybook Gardens is even close to an attraction is wrong. We have a gem of a building at the forks of the Thames. It is currently being used as office space for the County of Middlesex. Such a waste of the current building, which looks like a castle. It could be converted back to an attraction showing it's original use as a jail and courthouse. Put in people who dress from the late 1800's and show how life used to be back then. Ever heard of Alcatraz? It's San Fran's biggest attraction and it's just a jail with no actors or anything. This could be a big hit. The displaced office workers from Middlesex County could move to some of London's vacant office buildings.
GreatTallNorth2
shared this idea
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GWEN
commented
To "restore" the old courthouse to it original late 1820's form would mean tearing down the Ridout St. entrance porch, the south 1911 addition, the entire c1878 east half, demolishing the 1845 jail addition, so a retangular building looks down hill to the river forks. Check the Museum London website and see if you can pick up an early military officer painting of it. Re the interior you would have to undo the glamourizing c 1982, and return it to the lawyer-hated dark environment, and the prisoner-hated basement jail. Corfield and a photographer did a final book on it called 'Towers of London 'or similiar - LPL catalogue will show it. This building is fascinating in it architectural life story so if you go, look carefully around it, study the pictures on the lobby walls and ask questions. Remember the Judge sat opposite where County Council sits, look up and see where the original east wall was. And ponder the loss of the brooding jail wall about 25 years ago...
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stephknows
commented
Have you ever been to London's Eldon House? It's similar to what you described. It's just down the street.
A friend of mine got married at the Old Courthouse and it was beautiful. From the outside, it still looks beautiful and the inside is being maintained properly since it's being used daily. It's not rotting away, which is a good start.
It would be really neat to see it in it's original form, I agree.