Gimme Shelter – venue Stones played to become residential
SOMEONE could be living in the hall where the Rolling Stones played three gigs in Guernsey in 1964.
Planners have accepted a proposal to convert St George’s Hall, which spent decades as a commercial building.
The hall, which was named the New Theatre Ballroom in August 1964 when the Stones played for promoter Sydney James, has also been used as a roller-skating rink and dance hall, and staged wrestling, before closing its doors as a entertainment venue in 1966.
In recent years it has been used as offices for various businesses, but it has stood empty since at least 2020.
Attempts to market it for £950,000 as a commercial space has not attracted interest, possibly due to a lack of parking and natural light.
This led to S.G.H. Limited applying to demolish part of the rear of the building, create a new flat roof across the basement roof for a lightwell/courtyard above, as well as a new southwest gable wall to offer windows to serve the ground floor kitchen and first floor bedroom above.
All these changes would then allow a single home to be created.
The building is not listed, but it is in the St Peter Port conservation area.
The planners said that the existing building was not originally designed for office accommodation.
‘Given its relatively narrow footprint and mid-terrace position could not by easily refurbished to meet modern needs,’ the planners said in their report.
They noted that the proposed alterations were of a high standard of design and granted permission.
