A CRUMBLING former Victorian school could become a new base for Hull's Hindu community. The old Blundell Street Board School is currently on the city council's "at risk" register of listed buildings in Hull because of its deteriorating condition.
It has become a regular target for vandal attacks in recent years, including at least one serious fire.
A previously approved scheme to convert the derelict landmark in Brunswick Avenue into flats has yet to get off the ground.
Now the building's owner is in talks with the Hull and East Riding Hindu Cultural Association, with a view to using it as a community centre and banqueting hall.
Isle of Man-based developer Raj Kanadia travelled to Hull earlier this week to meet planning councillors and explain the current situation with the former school.
He said the apartment conversion scheme, which also included 56 new-build flats in the grounds, had stalled because banks stopped lending when the recession began to bite.
He said: "We couldn't do anything with the site without that finance, so we waited for times to change.
"No one realised than that seven or eight years later, the economic situation would still be the same."
Mr Kanadia said subsequent efforts to offer the building to the council or for use as a new independent free school also drew a blank.
He said he eventually ended up putting an advert in the Mail, which attracted the attention of the Hindu cultural association.
Now they are jointly working on a possible bid for Heritage Lottery funding to help breathe new life into the former school.
"It has caused a lot of stress to me over the years because I went into it not knowing the problems associated with the building," said Mr Kanadia.
"Having said that, somewhere in my heart tells me I have to continue with this.
"I want to take it forward and make a good job of it.
"I have not got any money back on this so far, but I am still here. Every year it is a cost to me, but I am determined to finish the job.
"In the current economic climate things are very bad and, as a listed building, it is very difficult, but I do not want to walk away from it.
"I do not want to play the part of the absent owner."
Dr Tapan Mahapatra, the chairman of the Hull and East Riding Hindu Cultural Association, said his organisation was excited at the opportunity of helping transform the derelict eyesore, as it was already outgrowing its current base in Park Street.
A consultant surgeon based at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, he said: "I can see there is great potential here.
"We are very keen to explore this idea and if and when it is restored, this building could become an icon if Hull becomes the City of Culture in 2017."
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