![\"Cllr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Liz-Makinson-outside-Harthill-Vestibule-in-Claderstones-Park.jpg\")
Cllr Liz Makinson outside the damaged Harthill Vestibule earlier this year(Image: Cllr Liz Makinson)<\/p>\nWork to repair the building has startedCllr Liz Makinson outside the damaged Harthill Vestibule earlier this year(Image: Cllr Liz Makinson)<\/p>\n
Work has started to repair an \u201ciconic\u201d building as questions remain about its future. Calderstones Park<\/a>, located in the Allerton<\/a> area of south Liverpool, boasts a woodland, lake and Japanese gardens.<\/p>\n An empty greenhouse in the park is the last trace of the Liverpool Botanic Garden. For years, a trip to the park in Allerton would have included a visit to the orchid house, described by one plant lover as being better than the collections at the Kew and Cambridge botanical gardens.<\/p>\n Writing in the ECHO previously<\/a>, Rex Makin said: \u201cThey contained numerous exhibits of a variety of plants and flowers forming a collection which had been assembled over centuries, Liverpool being one of the first municipalities to have such a collection in Botanic Gardens, Wavertree<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPriceless orchids and other speciality plants had been accumulated over the years from rarities brought to the port from overseas by seamen from all over the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n However, by the 1980s, the greenhouses had fallen into serious decline and were later demolished.<\/p>\n Only one greenhouse, known as the Harthill Vestibule, was left standing, which remains in the park to this day. It has been used for other purposes over the years, including housing the Neolithic Calderstones, but it has remained empty for several years.<\/p>\n The greenhouse was damaged last month from a fallen tree, which smashed into the roof. In an update issued yesterday, the Liberal Democrat councillors for the area said repairs had begun as they called on Liverpool City Council to transform the empty venue into a new space.<\/p>\n A statement from Cllr Liz Makinson, Cllr Andrew Makinson and Cllr Richard Kemp said: \u201cWe’re delighted to report that repair work has started on the roof of the Harthill Vestibule in Calderstones Park, following tree damage.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are pressing the council to work with the Friends of Calderstones Park to find a permanent use for this building, which was previously used to house the Calderstones before their move to the rear of the mansion house.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Liz Makinson hopes the repairs can be a turning point for the venue. She told the ECHO: \u201cIt\u2019s really good that it\u2019s going to be repaired.<\/p>\n \u201cI really hope there can be a permanent long-term use. It’s the only bit that remains of the place that used to house the world-famous orchid collection.\u201d<\/p>\n Liz added that the question of what to do with the old greenhouse has been up in the air ever since the Calderstones were moved out.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the best use for the vestibule or the best use for the stones. Since then, it\u2019s been a bit of limbo, with nobody having the finances, I think, to do something with it. I’m sure the Friends of Calderstones could do something with it, such as make it into a really nice caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really nice little space if it can be brought up to a decent standard, and I’d really like to see that happen. If it goes, it’s gone forever.\u201d<\/p>\n One local resident reacted positively to the news it was being repaired on a local Facebook<\/a> group. She said: “This is amazing news about the vestibule. I recently visited the park and noticed this iconic building. It\u2019s an important part of the city & park\u2019s heritage<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_closure-of-the-greenhouses-in-Calderstones-Park-in-the-1980s.jpg\")
People protesting the closure of the greenhouses in Calderstones Park in the 1980s(Image: Liverpool Echo\/British Newspaper Archive)<\/p>\n