Landlords say they are listening to ‘all ideas’ for the former Radio City tower but are cool on the idea of a zipwire
St Johns Beacon, known as the Radio City tower, viewed from the Anglican Cathedral(Image: Liverpool Echo)
If you look at any modern picture of Liverpool, a sketch outline or design, you will see the Liver Buildings, perhaps the cathedrals and almost always St Johns Beacon. It has been a mainstay of the city skyline for decades.
The remarkable building, sitting in the heart of the city centre, went through one of its most turbulent years in 2024 as the site which housed Radio City for a generation played out its final broadcast. Its owners Bauer Media renamed the station Hits Radio Liverpool in April last year and announced in October it would move out of the tower at the end of the year, having made the decision not to renew the lease on the Liverpool landmark.
Its future now rests in the hands of landlords Rivington Hark who have tasked agents to find a new tenant for the 450ft tower. Mark Williams, co-founder of the business, told the ECHO the firm will listen to “all ideas” for the beacon “however wacky” they may be.
Could this then spell a return to plans for the first zipwire to cascade across a major UK city? Mr Williams wasn’t so sure.
Almost five years ago, Liverpool Council’s planning committee gave its approval for a £5m wire to extend from the tower across St Johns Gardens to touch down on the roof of Central Library. Proposed by ZipWorld, there were hopes the plans would bring jobs to the city.
The idea was labelled “barmy” by some opponents, citing the numerous memorials, including one dedicated to Hillsborough victims and others to those to lost their lives in the war, situated nearby and with St John’s Gardens hosting a number of memorial events throughout the year. It prompted then Mayor Joe Anderson to take the unprecedented move to step in and block the development.
Speaking in 2020, he said: “As Mayor I do not interfere in the planning process. However, I do have the final decision on whether a building owned by the council should be used in such a way. I have serious concerns about using this area and, having spoken to the company, could not let them progress further, knowing I would not support it.”
Liverpool’s iconic Radio City Tower, St Johns Beacon(Image: Liverpool Echo/Colin Lane)
However, a letter from Zip World boss Sean Taylor to Mr Anderson around the time of that decision suggested the former city leader was hugely supportive of the scheme and ‘asked for bullets to fire back’ at those opposing the plans just a few weeks earlier.
The letter was one of a number of documents released following a Freedom of Information request by Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Makinson. With the future of the site now firmly up in the air, the beacon’s landlord Mr Williams set out how they were approaching the new year for the tower.
He said: “It’s such an iconic building and using it to the benefit of the city is important. The zip wire as first proposed isn’t going to happen because it’s a listed building and a wire down to the library isn’t going to be acceptable. There are other options like a wire attached to the building lower down.”
Mr Williams said the landlord now had control of the building and was open to ideas on its future “however wacky” they may be. He said it was important the site wasn’t left empty and efforts would be made to reopen the viewing platform but poured cold water on the idea of any short term lets being used in the site.