Local Life - St Helens - May/Jun 2021

18
Gamble Building
Gamble Building
Situated in Victoria Square in
the town centre, the Gamble
building was built in the late
1800s and officially opened on
5th November 1896, as a gift
to the people of St Helens from
Sir David Gamble. Built in brick
with terracotta dressings and a
slate roof, it began its life as the
Gamble Institute, housing both a
library and a technical school.
At the end of the 19th century,
the town had a few elementary
schools but lacked schools
capable of providing its pupils
with qualifications of a more
advanced technical nature
that would be needed by local
industries.
Sir David, a chemical magnate and first mayor of St Helens,
offered to build a technical school, donating £30,000 to
the project, around £3.5 million today. He stated that he
wanted to assist local people in making themselves equal
or superior to those countries where technical education
is already an institution.
Originally, the library housed in the Gamble Building
occupied the ground floor
complete with a ladies-only
reading room. The basement
was devoted to manual training
including engineering and
plumbing. The first floor was
home to various technical
classrooms, a laboratory, a
geometrical drawing room,
and cookery and laundry
departments. The second floor
was mostly used for chemical
works and art.
The Archive Service is still
based there, along with many
council staff, but the library
closed in 2017 due to water
damage, making that section of
the building unsafe. St Helens
Council has announced plans
to bring the Gamble building
back into full use and after engaging the public in several
drop-in events to talk about how the building should be
used in the future; senior councillors signed off on £1.4m
in funding for the restoration. January 2022 has been
earmarked as a potential date for the completion of work.
Images courtesy of St Helens Archives & Geoff Sandford of
The North West Transport Museum
Gamble Institute