A new lease of life for an historic Leeds building, neglected after 150 years, is on the cards for The Leeds Assembly Rooms, reports The Yorkshire Evening Post.
image: for illustration purposes only – RichTea, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
… hoped that this distinguished building may soon recover from a century and a half of neglect…
The Yorkshire Evening Post writes:
… The Leeds Assembly Rooms were incorporated into the famous former Third White Cloth Hall a couple of years after the construction of the hall, which was built in 1775 due to the city’s prospering manufacturing merchant trade…
They were the venue for many notable events and activities during its heyday including drills and inspections by the Leeds Volunteer Regiments during the French Revolution civil war and the location for a glittering ball for the King’s birthday parade in 1794. Years later, the first Working Men’s Institute was established here.
Unearthed historical documents say of the Leeds Assembly Rooms: “It is hoped that this distinguished building may soon recover from a century and a half of neglect and regain its original reputation as one of the most complete and highly finished set of rooms of its kind in the whole Kingdom, a fitting tribute to the wealth, elegance and culture of its builders, the merchants of Georgian Leeds.”
Fast forward to 2022 and the Grade II listed building, now known as Waterloo House, is enjoying a new lease of life after being transformed into a new Buddhist meditation complex.
A team of Buddhist volunteers teamed up with local Yorkshire contractors to overhaul the structure over the last two years…
