The Lewis's Building is a 20th-century Grade II listed building located in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Purpose-built as the flagship store for the now defunct Lewis's department store chain, the building is set to be redeveloped as part of redevelopment project Central Village.

History

In 1856 men's and boy's clothing store Lewis's began trading from 19th century building on the current site. This building was eventually replaced in the 1910s and 1920s with a design by Gerald de Courcy Fraser which incorporated the adjacent Watson Building. During the Liverpool Blitz the building was mostly destroyed by bombs, requiring a rebuild which was again taken by Gerald de Courcy Fraser in 1947. The newly constructed nine-storey 420,000 sq ft store opened in 1956 and operated until 29 May 2010. Since the demise of Lewis's the building has been remained vacant apart from with a branch of PureGym currently occupying the basement floor since 2015. The building is set to be redeveloped under a new project called Central Village whereby the new site will consist of 26 units with an average floor space of (although the largest unit covers ). This will bring the total retail and leisure space in Central Village to around , effectively making it the third largest shopping centre in Liverpool city centre behind only Liverpool One and

St. John's Shopping Centre St Johns Liverpool is the largest covered shopping centre in the city of Liverpool, located in the heart of the city since 1969 and home to more than 100 retailers. The centre is also home to a contemporary St John's Market which has a history d ...

. Large amounts of office space and a 125-room

Adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a Tempo#Basic tempo markings, tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive m ...

hotel will occupy the remaining floors.

Sculpture

To symbolise Liverpool's resurgence following World War II a statue made by Sir Jacob Epstein of a nude man was added above the building's main entrance. Its official title is ''Liverpool Resurgent'' but is nicknamed locally as either 'Nobby Lewis' or 'Dickie Lewis'. The statue was unveiled for Lewis's

Centenary {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

celebrations in 1956, which came as the blitzed store had completed rebuilding. It is a well-known local meeting place, and was immortalised in the 1962 anthemic song ''In My Liverpool Home'' by

Peter McGovern Peter John McGovern (28 October 1927 – 1 April 2006) was an English songwriter and activist. Life and career Pete McGovern was born in Liverpool, England, on 28 October 1927. Both of his parents were Irish. His father, Thomas McGovern, was fro ...

: :"''We speak with an accent exceedingly rare,'' :''Meet under a statue exceedingly bare''"

References

{{Authority control Grade II listed hotels Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Unused buildings in Liverpool