Sparkhill Police Station, which closed in 2016, will be brought back into use
A former police station is to get a new lease of life as a centre for members of the Bosnian community. Plans have been approved to transform Sparkhill Station into a hub with cafe, religious and educational training spaces and a caretaker’s flat.
The building also housed West Midlands Police Museum before it moved to the city centre. It remained a working police cellblock until 2016 before it was put on sale in January and purchased by the Bosnia and Herzegovina UK Network.
City planners passed the application on Thursday (August 31) which would see no change to the exterior. In an application lodged with Birmingham City Council on July 12, the group said it had outgrown their headquarters on Medley Road, Greet and the new venue on the corner of Stratford Road and Court Road, Sparkhill, was much bigger.
The new centre would employ five full-time and 10 part-time staff members and proposed opening hours would be from 8am to midnight everyday.
The building benefits from seven existing parking spaces within the courtyard and access off Stratford Road. Additionally, the site has half a dozen parking spaces fronting Court Road, which were also originally used by the police.
The ground floor will comprise of two classrooms, two offices, a reception, toilets, a manager’s office, interview room, kitchen, reception, ladies hall, security room, café/canteen and museum.
The first floor will have offices, a training room, caretaker’s flat, administration area, boardroom and a staff kitchen.
There will be education and community facilities for Syrian and Bosnian children (supplementary schooling for 200 children and adult education language classes including English, Bosnian and Arabic.
The new users will be predominantly made up of Bosnian refugees who sought safety from war and genocide that occurred during the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s. It has a history of working with other vulnerable groups including Syrian and Ukrainian refugees as well as African and South Asian communities.
Birmingham: Viktorijanska zgrada bivše policijske stanice i muzeja je novi dom BH UK Networka
Dragi prijatelji, sa zadovoljstvom objavljujemo da smo kupili zgradu koja će biti naš novi dom.
Radi se o bivšoj policijskoj stanici gdje je također bio policijski muzej za regiju West Midlands. Zbog historijskog značaja, zgrada je pod zaštitom države. Objekat je sagrađen 1897. godine i ima preko 1000 kvadratnih metara prostora, vlastiti parking i vanjski prostor za igru.
Viktorijanski sjaj bivše policijske stanice i muzeja je gradska znamenitost više od 125 godina. Nalazi se u blizini centra Birminghama, na Stratford Road-u, jedna od najstarijih i najdužih ulica koja povezuje Birmingham, drugi po veličini grad u Velikoj Britaniji i Shakespearov rodni grad Stratford Upon Avon.
Ovaj više milionski projekat je zaista historijsko dostignuće za bh. zajednicu u Velikoj Britaniji i rezultat je timskog rada. Veliko hvala svima na ogromnom doprinosu!
Sada je vrijeme za adaptaciju prostora i stvaranje novih uspomena.
Čestitamo našoj zajednici i želimo im sreću u novim prostorijama.
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