De Grey Rooms in York set for 'urgent' repairs to prevent further damage

The York Conservation Trust is to undertake the work as part of a major renovation of the 19th Century De Grey Rooms in St Leonard’s Place.

The move follows a similar planning application the trust submitted to City of York Council earlier this summer seeking repairs to the adjoining De Grey House.

The plans say the urgent work will start this month on the roofs and the southern elevation of the Ballroom Lantern.

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“We need to undertake this work to prevent further damage to the plaster work of the ballroom ceiling,” said the trust.

The rest of the work concerns internal and external alterations, including repairs to ironwork, roofs, windows, internal doors and floor finishes, replacement of lighting and kitchenette and upgrading the electrical systems.

The De Grey Rooms, the application said, are a Grade 2-listed building erected in 1841-42 as a military and public building. The Yorkshire Hussars used them for entertaining.

The building’s last tenants were the York Citizen’s Trust, who used it for costume hire, offices and performance studios.

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Other uses included entertainment for the Victoria gentry, dances, the focus of York’s VE Day celebrations in 1945 and more recently Goths nights and beer festivals.

It described the De Grey Rooms as an “important example” of early Victorian architecture, an example of military architecture, and comparatively rare example pf high status military entertainment building.

With other nearby buildings, it formed part of York’s 18th and 19th Century Cultural quarter.

“The De Grey Rooms demonstrates high heritage values across the board, and as such has clear special architectural and historic interest, making a site of national significance,” it said.

The planning application says the works are “mostly conservation repair on a like-for-like basis.” The alterations aim to improve fire safety, environmental sustainability, and flexibility to secure the best use of the building. The work also aims to preserve and enhance its historic use too.

It also explained how the trust leases properties to commercial and residential tenants in York, using the money to restore historic buildings.

“De Grey Rooms is a very large building for which the original use no longer exists. As such the owners have found it very difficult to find tenants to occupy the site, resulting in it presently standing empty.”

The application concluded: “The proposed alterations within this proposal represent a clear public benefit in helping secure its optimum viable use through increased flexibility, functionality, reduced maintenance, improved environmental sustainability, and improved fire safety.

“The works outlined in this proposal are intended to be carried out in a phased approach in the coming years around short-term tenancies, until a long-term viable use for the site can be identified.”