Caroline Frances-King (who took the photo above) – like many of you – was shocked to see the damage done by a fire at Green Park Station.
It started in wooden cabins used as retail outlets and then spread to the timbered roof above. The cause of the fire is not yet known but is not thought to have been started deliberately.
Obviously the businesses using the cabins, use electricity and gas – many of them sell cooked food.
While not wanting to affect anyone’s trade this incident does raise the question of how safe it is to have wooden sheds under a wooden roof.
This has happened just as the repairs to the upper glass roof of this former railway terminus are reaching completion and maybe it’s time to look at a long-term use for this vast covered space.
Should there be a permanent market here? Should it be enclosed and used as an exhibition space or theatre. What are your thoughts?
I’ve always thought the abuse of a lovely space by parking cars in it was a gigantic mistake. You were in Lisbon recently so you will know how the old market there was turned into a real venue for food and a great tourist attraction. Doing something similar here would draw locals and tourists alike – the Saturday Market is always well supported, and there would be space to rival Frome with the advantage of being near the stations. The Bath Quays would also benefit. Yes to art, music and all manner of other attractions but please no more car parking. Sainsbury’s seem to have survived without it for the last couple of years!