New plan to save Lion's birthplace (From Stourbridge News)

New plan to save Lion's birthplace

10:22am Thursday 31st July 2008

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AMBITIOUS £7.5m plans to save the birthplace of the famous Stourbridge Lion and turn it into a new state-of-the-art health care centre have finally been unveiled this week.

The derelict grade II listed former Foster & Rastricks building off Lowndes Road has been in a sorry state for the last few years and history buffs feared it could be lost forever if restoration proposals were not put forward soon.

But new plans worked up by site owners Quadrant Land Partnership and Stourbridge’s Worcester Street Surgery could now see it turned into one of the biggest ‘one-stop-shop’ medical centres of its kind in the UK.

The proposed 30,000 sq ft GP surgery would house 20 General Practioners offering a full range of primary care services such as acute care, chronic disease management and nursing services as well as a lecture theatre and seminar rooms to continue the practice’s educational ethos. There would also be more than 120 parking spaces.

Worcester Street Surgery’s Dr Steve Mann told the News it has taken more than 12 months to get the plans for The Lion Medical Centre right - following a long search for a suitable location.

He added: “We are delighted to have finally found a solution to our accommodation problem. We currently occupy three buildings on Worcester Street, where expansion of the services we can offer to our 21,000 patients is impossible.

“The new facility gives us an opportunity to provide a one-stop shop to meet the medical needs of the people in Stourbridge.

“We are working hard locally to ensure this project happens and we’ll be putting the plans up in the waiting rooms for patients to see.”

The old foundry building - which has lain empty since 2003 - has been persistently vandalised, much to the distress of historians - who have been desperate to see it preserved to highlight its place in history as the birthplace of the first steam locomotive to run across America in 1829.

The plan has already been submitted to Dudley Council and shown to Dudley’s conservation team and English Heritage.

Andy Dodson, of Quinton-based Paul White Associates - managing agents for Quadrant Land Partnership, said a decision is expected by October; and if the plan gets the go-ahead work could start as early as January 2009 and the new surgery could be up and running by spring 2010.

The scheme will form part of Quadrant’s future £100m masterplan to redevelop the north side of Stourbridge - turning around 40 acres of canal-side land into 800 or so new homes.

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