More than 100 people visited the University’s Heritage Open Days this month.
Every year over four days in September nationwide, different buildings of age, style and function open their doors to give people the chance to discover often hidden or forgotten gems on their doorsteps.
The Victoria Gallery & Museum (VG&M) supports Heritage Open Days and have previously offered tours, talks and workshops celebrating the Victoria Building. This year, it was decided to open up more of the campus, giving visitors the chance to explore different aspects of University life.
Fully booked
The VG&M arranged for volunteer-led guided tours of Waterhouse campus buildings, where visitors saw the historic Foresight Chapel, Walker Building and the original medical school lecture theatre in the Thompson Yates Building, complete with ornate iron spiral staircase and balcony.
All Waterhouse tours were fully booked with waiting lists and lots of positive feedback was received.
A retired surgeon, who worked in the Waterhouse buildings when they housed the Liverpool Infirmary, attended one of the tours and was stated he was “extremely grateful to be able to return.”
State of the art
Tours of the Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) and former Victorian boiler house and mortuary, which is now a state of the art 21st Century energy centre, also took place.
Engineering Services Manager, Peter Birch, who helped lead the CHP tours said: “These energy centres go a long way to helping the University reduce its carbon footprint and will provide the University with environmentally friendly heating and electricity for many years to come.”
“It was gratifying meeting members of the public and also University staff who had given up their time to come and see how we have brought a former Victorian boiler house back to life to form part of our ambitious sustainability agenda going forward.”
VG&M Education Officer, Kirsty Hall, who helped organise the Heritage Open Days, said: “Almost 100 people attended both tours which was a great success. The University has buildings from so many eras, from Waterhouse red brick masterpieces, right up to the new award-winning CHP.
“Heritage Open Days provide us with the opportunity to share these buildings with the local community.”