Fed-up business owners are calling on Liverpool City Council to give their street “the much-needed revamp it deserves”.
LGBTQ+ bars The Poste House and The Masquerdale, found on Cumberland Street in the city’s Pride Quarter, have come together to create a petition after being “sick of how ragged the street looks”.
The businesses are asking for the council to “take a look” at the street which contains so much history and fame – with it having welcomed the likes of Oasis, The Beatles, Rylan Clark, Gogglebox’s Jenny and Lee and Chrissy Rock to name a few.
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Manager of The Poste House, Ciaran Robinson, from Huyton but now living in Vauxhall, told the ECHO: “For years both these diamond-in-the-rough bars have been the bars to be at during massive events such as Pride in Liverpool and most recently, Eurovision with the Masquerade's amazing week-long entertainment programme.
“This Street has thousands of people walking past it from Victoria Street and Dale Street each week – which have both seen revamps themselves in recent years – but most people don't look twice at this filthy-looking passage.”
Cumberland Street is situated in the heart of Liverpool’s gay scene. Despite this, the campaigners said it is “an overlooked street in the city centre due to looking like an alleyway”.
City centre north Labour councillor Nick Small has supported the calls for change. He said: “There are some quick wins here like rainbow streets signs and some longer-term asks like investment in the new public realm. I’m listening very carefully to what residents, businesses and people who visit Cumberland Street are saying and will ensure their views are heard loud and clear.”
The street currently has two businesses operating within it but has seen many others come and go including Lomax, Roxie’s, Angels, Out, and Profile amongst others.
The campaigners hope a revamp will see more footfall, create more revenue and increase the chances of investors wanting to open new venues in the current empty spaces.
An ideal revamp for the campaigners would include repaving and new pathways on both sides of the road. To make the street more “attractive” to bypassers, the campaigners are also asking for Pride road markings and street crossings so people are aware it’s an LGBTQ+ friendly street and possible tributes to Scouse LGBTQ+ icons.
Ciaran, whose family has managed The Poste House for nearly two decades, added: “The outside look has affected us and we see this all the time when thousands of tourists and the people of this city walk by every week not giving us a second look.
"The people that do come down are always saying the same thing: ‘I would never have known this little pub was here’. It’s only thanks to the likes of Google and Facebook that newbies to the city know we are here.
“We spent countless hours over lockdown giving our little pub the makeover it needed and have spent even more countless hours adding to and maintaining it since. So, for the council not to do the same to Cumberland Street is a real kick in the teeth.”
John Kenny, the owner of The Masquerade Bar, echoed a similar frustration. The 49-year-old from Walton added: “It’s been really disheartening and disappointing. Stanley Street has benefitted from a number of interventions, as has Eberle Street, yet Cumberland Street has hardly been touched.
“Apart from the man-made issues with dog muck and littering, the pavements and road are in an appalling state and I’ve personally seen people walk down and turn around from Dale Street.
“The footfall on Dale Street has increased considerably over the past couple of years with new hotels helping to cement it as a destination road, yet Cumberland Street has been totally neglected. It looks shabby and intimidating at night – the lighting is terrible.
“We have spent over £100,000 in refreshing the Masquerade and keeping it in a decent state, from what was quite a dilapidated premises. Step one foot outside and that whole feeling drops.”
The two bars came together after the world’s attention turned to Liverpool as it hosted a key event in the LGBTQ+ calendar – the Eurovision Song Contest.
John, who now lives in Orrell Park, said: “Eurovision saw thousands of people enter the area and I personally saw these people, most out-of-towners, looking around them as they allied towards the venue with surprise at the state of the road.
“The businesses are doing what they can to clean up outside, but there’s not much that can be done other than clean. I personally jet-washed the pavement from the top of the street to outside the old Angel's Paradise which really helped, but it can only do so much.”
Liverpool City Council were approached for comment. You can sign the petition online.
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