“Further discussions on the future of the building and analysis of potential options are needed”
05:49, 13 May 2026Updated 09:38, 13 May 2026
Some of the Newquay Road Residents Association at Eagle House, as the debate over the future of the former Eagle House Youth Club develops(Image: Bristol Post)
A building that once housed a famous Bristol youth club faces an uncertain future as a 10-year lease ends this week – with community leaders calling on the council to act immediately.
The former Eagle House Youth Club building closed in the early 2010s and was leased by Bristol City Council to an African church in 2016. That lease expires on Wednesday this week, and despite long-running calls for the past couple of years for the building to be secured, repaired and handed back to the community, no clear picture has yet emerged from City Hall about what will happen next.
Bristol Live understands that, even though local community leaders and councillors have raised the issue of its future since at least last summer, meetings are taking place this week involving council chiefs to decide what happens next.
Last November, Bristol Live reported that the issue of the future of the youth club building had become the source of a political debate at City Hall, but it appears a decision has still not been made about what will happen to the building, even with the lease running out.
Last week, the chair of the Newquay Road Multi-Agency Group, which includes local councillors, police, residents, schools and youth work organisations, wrote to council leader Tony Dyer calling for a decision to be made about what will happen next.
The letter outlined that the most immediate fear from the group was that the building would be left empty and insecure and vulnerable to vandalism and damage.
READ MORE: Battle lines drawn over future of Bristol youth club that famously hosted Prince PhilipREAD MORE: ‘Scaremongering’ row over future of South Bristol social club
The group said it feared the church group that had leased the building for 10 years would not be required to restore the building to the condition it was when it moved in – and what is estimated to be a repair bill of more than £200,000 could end up landing on taxpayers or the local community.
With the imminent closure of the Youth Moves youth club facility at the nearby Park Centre, as it moves to the new 224 Youth Zone a mile away on the edge of Inns Court, local residents have formed a campaign group to ask for the former youth club to be reopened, or at least given back to the community so they can do it themselves.
The former Eagle House Youth Club, now a church, in Newquay Road, Knowle West(Image: Bristol Post/Paul Gillis)
The letter to Cllr Dyer from Carol Casey, the chair of the Newquay Road Multi-Agency Group, calls for action or at least a decision.
“The community have supplied to council officers and the council numerous and detailed instances of the church breaking its terms of lease and apparently the council are about to let the church walk away without completing the repairs that they should be doing,” she said.
“We are fully aware of the condition of the property and that money will need to be invested before a long term lease can be granted. That restriction does not apply to short term ad hoc use as has been confirmed by council officers attending our meetings.
“They have also told us that no decisions had been taken by the council as to the future plans. We were assured by you and your party, prior to the last council elections, that the lease for the church would be terminated early and the building given back to the community.
“This has obviously not happened and given that there is a serious danger of vandalism if you leave the property empty, we propose to occupy the property for its protection while a long term plan is worked out.
“If you have any contributions to make then there are only a few days for you to make them,” she added.
Cllr Rob Logan and Cllr Lisa Durston, (Lab, Filwood) outside the former Eagle House Youth Club in Knowle West.(Image: Bristol Labour)
Bristol Live asked Bristol City Council a series of questions regarding the end of the lease, the repair bill and the short and long-term future of the former Eagle House Youth Club last week, and on Monday, the council said the issues raised in those questions were being discussed at meetings taking place this week.
“Further discussions on the future of the building and analysis of potential options are needed before any proposals are progressed,” Cllr Dyer told Bristol Live. “We will continue to engage with the local community and interested organisations, and as soon as we’re able to offer clarity on next steps following the expiry of the current lease,” he added.
READ MORE: Former youth club in Knowle West could be demolished soon despite election pledgeREAD MORE: Renewed calls for Knowle West youth club to reopen after tragic deaths of teens
With the uncertainty this week, on Tuesday, local Labour councillors Rob Logan and Lisa Durston called on the council to act.
“The Green Party promised to give the Eagle House Youth Centre back to the community within 6 months, two years later nothing has happened and the site is in danger of becoming an empty abandoned building,” they said. “It’s time for the council to act.”
Eagle House Youth Club was opened in the 1950s, and famously was once visited by the Duke of Edinburgh. It was one of the first places in Bristol to host local music events in the 1980s that played a key role in developing the so-called Bristol Sound.
It closed in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government’s austerity cuts in 2014, and was then leased to a church in 2016. In 2024, a petition was started calling on the council to take back the lease and reopen it as a youth centre.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Eagle House Youth Club, Bristol. 29th October 1959.
In March, Bristol Live reported that the local community were concerned at draft plans the council had been drawing up to replace both the Eagle House Youth Club building and the existing social club and community centre next door with a new facility along with housing on the site, sparking something of a political row between local Labour councillors and the Greens running the council.
Labour accused the Greens of eyeing the much-needed community facilities for housing, while the Greens accused Labour of ‘scaremongering’, saying they wanted to work with the community on the future of the entire site.