SIR - As an architect, I was saddened to hear the planned demolition of the Richard Dunn Sports Centre and to be replaced by a ubiquitous shed like structure devoid of any ambition, identity and civic pride which is the hallmark of the current structure.
Richard Dunn Sports Centre is unique to the Bradford’s skyline and will be a great loss to our city. The arguments made over the extreme running costs of the existing building are an unjustifiable rational to demolish a structure of its time. The building could be upgraded to ensure the environmental and running costs are improved by better management and improvements to the shell. Furthermore, it is not inconceivable the existing building could become part of the new proposal with some imagination and be the centre piece of the proposed new industrial village.
Cities which have progressed most dramatically are the ones which offer imagination and challenge to our urban fabric, this was the hallmark of Bradford’s (Victorian) historic sky-line. Wake-up Bradford, don’t destroy what is good to be replaced by the mediocracy!
Vijay Taheem (Senior Lecturer in Architecture, University of Huddersfield), Gaisby Lane, Shipley
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