According to a Heritage Impact Assessment, Organisation Todt – the civil and military engineering division of the Nazi government – requisitioned the land at Beaumont in 1942 and used forced labourers to build the structure. They then fitted it with three coal-fired ovens.
The site continued to be used as a bakery for a number of years, but in 1993 it was turned into Total Sport, which closed in 2015.
Dandara – who are building 21 one-bedroom and 44 two-bedroom homes in the area – originally planned to renovate the structure and reinstate a number of original features, including the large chimney. However, they now say that the building has become structurally unsound and must be demolished.
A structural report accompanying the latest plans said that it was not clear if the former bakery could be repaired in an economic or viable manner or without seriously affecting the historic fabric of the building.
‘Although a visual examination suggests the structure of this old reinforced concrete building needs only localised repair and the introduction of some strengthening with new beams and enhanced columns, the detailed investigations into the quality of the concrete have exposed serious underlying issues which are not apparent on the surface,’ it said.
It added: ‘The low quality of most of the concrete tested and the evidence of deeper corrosion of the reinforcement cannot be ignored and indicate that the structure will need very extensive repair and/or replacement before it can be considered durable enough to be used for at least a further 50 years.
‘These repairs, even if economically viable and practicable, will be very damaging and intrusive.’
