CALLS have been made for the redevelopment of a prominent Carlisle building, as fears mount that the former Bitts Park Lodge in the city’s main park may be lost to ruin.

Bitts Park Lodge, was flooded in 2015 with initial plans from the council wanting to renovate the building to include a cafe, toilets, changing area, office and decked seating area.

The refurbishment of the lodge was told to be on the council’s agenda for 2019 under the former Carlisle City Council authority.

However, the work is understood to have yet been started, with some residents fearing that the prominent building may be left to fall into rack and ruin.

Putting Cumbria First member and local campaigner Colin May has called on the council to outline what they are gong to do with the building.

He said: “The building has been empty since the floods of 2015, in 2018 the council said they would redevelop it in 2019, they had plans and everything, but since then it has been sitting empty and nothing has happened.

“People are just devastated, thinking it is going to be another building lost, another historic building lost in the next couple of years, so we are asking the council to spend some money on fixing it up.”

“It could be used as a tearoom, art gallery, a place for an information for all the people doing the Hadrian’s Wall walk and have all the history of the Romans in there. It could be used for multiple things rather than sitting empty, because if it sit’s empty for much longer it will probably end up being torn down like a lot of the other buildings in Carlisle over the last couple of years sadly.”

When asked about what he thought of the situation, Mr May said he and many others in the city are ‘devastated’ with the disuse of the building.

He said: “It’s devastating, it’s not as old as some of the other buildings in Carlisle we have lost, but still its an amazing little building with lots of history and it would be sad to lose it, I think it would add a lot of character to the park if it was redone up and used.”

“People are all saying the same thing, it’s sad that we might lose another building in Carlisle if something is not done soon.

“I always said myself pride starts from the top, if the pride doesn’t start from the top, it’s kind of hard to ask the people to show pride in the area.”

Cumberland Council, took over from Carlisle City Council in April 2023.

A Cumberland Council spokesperson said: “With regard to the lodge at Bitts Park, the initial plans for the lodge were unaffordable and did not proceed.  The council is now starting to consider next steps around the development of refreshed options for the building.”