It has been 10 years since The Crown abruptly closed its doors – and there’s no sign of it reopening in the near future.
Shutting permanently in January 2015, the Middlesbrough boozer has since been bought by Middlesbrough Council and then transferred to the Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) under the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA). Now a decade on from the closure, TVCA have said that “work is ongoing” to determine how long the development phase for restoration will take.
A 2024 review into the Crown pub building criticised processes surrounding the 2023 pre-election purchase of the crumbling eyesore venue and questioned whether it represented value for money. Public questions submitted to the TVCA Cabinet in December, last year, were answered in a document posted online on January 14.
One of the questions said: “Funds have been allocated to Gresham. Does this include funds that will be allocated for The Crown in Middlesbrough considering that the building represents a major safety hazard?” The response said: “The extent to which we are able to comment on specific proposals would be detailed in the relevant Middlesbrough Mayoral Development Corporation Board papers”.
Papers from the most recent MDC Board meeting, which took place in December, detail the plans for The Crown. The agenda said: “To give a derelict building a new life through a mixed-use development focused on business and leisure linked to the Gresham regeneration”. The next steps outlined that the “condition survey has been completed” and it was “to be considered alongside wider Gresham development plans”.
The former Crown pub was somewhat of of a landmark before it closed in 2015
(Image: Google)
Further inquiries about Gresham, and specifically the derelict pub, formed some of the 50 questions put to TVCA Cabinet in December. “Why doesn’t the Gresham masterplan, developed by Tarras Park Properties Limited, include the Crown pub?” The response said: “At the time the Gresham masterplan was developed it was not known if the Crown would be included in the redevelopment, so it was therefore not included.”
Another question put to TVCA Cabinet said: “Why doesn’t the eight-point ‘Gresham Focus Area’ update mention the Crown pub anywhere?” The answer outlined that “investigative work continues to determine how this could be included.”
When asked for a time period of how long the development phase for The Crown restoration is expected to be, TVCA said: “Work is ongoing to determine this.” In a Tees Valley MDC document from April 2023 – titled ‘Supercharging development in Middlesbrough’ – The Crown restoration was described as a “short” term project, with the development time-scale deemed to be between zero and two years. It is worth noting that the transfer of The Crown from Middlesbrough Council to MDC did not occur until 2024.
The same document said: “The listed Crown Pub will be brought back into use as a focal point for this part of town and enhanced pedestrian linkages.”
The Crown was known, in more recent times, as a stalwart on the Middlesbrough pub scene. However, it is remembered fondly by many during its time as a much-loved cinema. Originally built for Elite Cinemas more than a century ago, it later became ABC Cinema and a bingo hall before transforming into the pub.
In February 2023, Middlesbrough Council bought the former pub on the corner of Linthorpe Road for £750,000 following an Executive decision. A report to council leaders stated the immediate priority was to “ensure the control and protection of a locally important asset”.
The agreed sum paid for the building was significantly higher than a £460,000 valuation obtained by the council. An internal audit review, ordered in summer 2023 by then-chief executive Clive Heaphy (published in March 2024), found no evidence of a full business case or negotiation on price prior to the controversial sale. Mr Heaphy was not in post at the time of the February 2023 purchase of The Crown.
Andy Preston, who was Middlesbrough Mayor at the time of purchase in February 2023, responded to the findings of the internal audit review in 2024. “It would have been best to buy the building years ago at a lower level but for a prime site in a central location the price paid is about right,” he said. “Grants could have been won to make it a remarkable place. Instead it stood empty and rotted – damaging investment and morale.”
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