Building record MDR13708 - New Central Building, Station Street, Long Eaton

The building was opened in 1900 as the New Central (Premises) and comprised a range of individual shops (grocer, greengrocer etc, but all part of the Co-op Society), with The People's Hall above. It was constructed by F Perks & Son, the most prolific builder in Long Eaton and also the builder of later multi-storey tenement factories. The clock was installed in the tower in 1927, as part of the Long Eaton Co-operative Society's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations. In 1969 the Long Eaton Co-op became part of the Greater Nottingham Co-op Society. Some of the Main Street frontage was bricked up at this time. The building was sold to a brewery in c. 1979 and the People's Hall was converted to a nightclub/health club/pub at the same time. Since then it has had a succession of different names and owners. In 2005 the owner was Punch Taverns Ltd and its name was The Famous Stillage. (1) The department store and meeting hall of the Long Eaton Working Men's Cooperative Society. Designed in 1897 by Ernest Ridgeway in the Italian Renaissance Style. Built by Francis Perks & Son between 1897 and 1900. The store is built of red brick with stone dressings and a stone balustrade, beneath a natural slate roof. The elevation to Station Street features five large traceried windows separated by pilasters. To the right is a square tower of four stages beneath a lead cupola. The Long Eaton Working Men's Cooperative Society (1868-1969) was an organisation of great importance to local economic history. Their branch stores vary in quality, but the New Central Building is a building of architectural quality that marked the Society's coming of age. (2)