Council proposes new use for Government cash as Angel Row library fails to sell

Nottingham Central Library which closed in Angel Row. (Photo: PROJuliaC2006)
By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Nearly £4m which would have redeveloped Nottingham’s Angel Row library is likely to be transferred to a new state-of-the-art NHS testing centre in the Broadgate development.
Nottingham City Council was awarded just under £4m from the Future High Street Fund in 2020 to transform the closed library into creative space.
However, the project is now considered undeliverable as the necessary sale to a developer has fallen through.
With a government deadline looming to spend the money, the council will propose re-allocating it to the new city centre NHS testing site.
The Community Diagnostic Centre will offer 130,000 tests a year, including MRI scans, CTs, x-rays, ultrasounds and heart and lung testing.
The Nottingham University Hospital Trust have already secured £25m of government funding to build it.
The centre will be operational next spring, meaning the FHSF money can be spent before it would have to be returned to the government.
It isn’t clear yet exactly how the extra £3.86m will be used to enhance the project.

The council says the project will bring six vacant units on Lister Gate back into use and lead to large amounts of footfall in the city centre.
Once it is at full capacity, the centre will employ 135 staff including consultant radiologists, radiographers, imaging assistants, physiologists and administrators.
The Angel Row library closed in March 2020 and wasn’t reopened following the pandemic.
The council, which effectively went bankrupt last year, has consistently tried to sell the asset as it looks to reduce maintenance costs and balance its budget.
Councillor Steve Battlemuch (Lab), who oversees the council’s property, said the firm which previously wanted to buy it “did not come through with the money”.
The £10m replacement Nottingham Central Library opened in November 2023, more than three years after the Angel Row closure.
The CDCs aim to speed up diagnosis for conditions such as cancer without putting extra strain on hospitals.
Mark Simmonds, deputy medical director for Nottingham University Hospitals Trust, previously said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the people of Nottingham and the NHS as whole to be part of the regeneration of this area.
“Delays to diagnostics are too long and this marks an opportunity to deliver greater capacity in an accessible place.
“People from the whole of Nottingham can benefit without coming to constrained hospital sites.
“This will be a part of the NHS on your high street. We are looking forward to getting boots on the ground.”
The transfer of funds is likely to be approved at the Executive board meeting next week (May 21).
The council’s other project funded by the Future High Streets Fund – £8.6m infrastructure work on Maid Marion Way – is on track to be completed by spring 2025.