Documenting Demolition

Documenting Demolition: A Community Evidencing Project at Manchester’s LGBT Centre

The ‘Documenting Demolition’ project aimed to capture the Manchester LGBT+ Centre’s final months before the groups moved out and the building was demolished to make way for a brand new Centre. The project is part of a longer-term design and research project into the Manchester’s LGBT+ Centre building undertaken by Emily Crompton, an architect and academic at Manchester School of Architecture. The project was created in partnership with The Proud Trust, the charity which manage the Centre, and architectural photographer Sally-Ann Norman. This pamphlet, while it is a standalone publication, was originally created to accompany an exhibition of photographs, letters and artefacts which is on at Manchester Central Library (Reading Rooms) on from 12 July 2022 - 12 September 2022.

The LGBT+ Centre (previously known as The Gay Centre) is located on Sidney Street, off Oxford Road, and was the first and only purpose-built building for the LGBT+ community in the UK (others such as the London Lesbian and Gay Centre made use of an existing building). Manchester’s Gay Centre served the LGBT+ community for over 30 years. It was demolished in 2020 and re-built in 2021.

£5 of each sale goes directly to The Proud Trust: https://www.theproudtrust.org/