As some of you may be aware that Portsmouth City Council, unfortunately, have been trying for the last three years to demolish what is The Former Records Office, located next door to the Portsmouth Museum on Museum Road.

We have worked tirelessly trying to raise awareness in the local area of the building's fate gaining as many local constituents as possible on to this petition. If you are too against demolishing old historic buildings, especially for more social housing, then please sign this petition.

As you can see from some of the pictures, this building still has shrapnel marks in the north wall from World War 2. The building oozes Edwardian character and if the walls could talk can you imagine the stories that it could tell.

Let us help the building go on for many years so that future generations can tell the story of how the holes in the wall came to be there.

The Portsmouth City Records Office is a classic early Edwardian building built in 1897, and it will become yet another to be lost forever if the residents of Portsmouth do not get together and voice their wishes to keep her to the Portsmouth City Council.

The building has a long history within Portsmouth. It was originally part of the Victoria Barracks which was joined to the Clarence Barracks to form a huge military complex with over 6000 military personnel. In 1941 the Victoria Barracks and Clarence Barracks were hit heavily with bombing from WW11 which is why you can still see so many shrapnel marks along the northern wall from the road on Museum Road.

Shortly after the war finished very unique guns were developed in Portsmouth which were to be housed on the hill at the Forts which could reach the water if Portsmouth found itself under threat again. As a result, the need for so many military barracks and personnel so close to the water to defend the coast were not essential. So the decision was made to dispose of the site to be sold off for housing and Pembrook Park was born. The only parts of the site that survived were at the northerly end on what was known as Alexandra Avenue, now Museum Road. For Clarence Barracks the main Officers quarters was retained, now the Portsmouth Museum and for Victoria Barracks, it was the also the Offices mess which was then taken on by the NAAFI, its original function with them is not currently known.
It became the City Records Office in the early 1970s as Portsmouth had no formal function for keeping safe our historic documents and resources, and it is believed that the site has been vacant since that function moved into the Central Library in 2013. Due to the building being empty since this move and the Portsmouth City Council not maintaining the building since, the building has fallen into disrepair, simply the result of being left to fester for so long with no use or maintenance. A convenient status reflecting the city’s current housing shortage, either way this is very disappointing to see?

The Office is located and now part of the joint grounds of the City Museum which is located off of the Museum Road which today is a pleasant green corridor thanks to its magnificent trees. Both are magnificent buildings and their joint estate is Museum Gardens, the Office being surrounded by trees to complement those of Ravelin Park. With lawn starching to Kings Terrace. Museum Road is changing fast; the sealed wooden cladded building being the new University sports centre which is a few doors along, which will be when finished a 11,000 m2 building offering an 8 court sports hall, 8 lane 25m swimming pool, gym, squash courts etc which will add a new dynamics to the area but, again is going to add considerable traffic and congestion to the area.

The Rotunda has gone from Ravelin Park, and the landscaping must remain including the historic buildings and beautiful trees along the road.
To demolish the Offices with all of its previous history from WW11 to clear the gardens and build some multi-storey housing development does not feel like progress for Portsmouth when other avenues and uses could be explored to preserve the feel of this highly visible plot, and avoid a harsh land-use boundary to the grade II listed main museum building which is still in full working order to the public.

Please help us put a stop to yet another needless demolition of a Historic Portsmouth Building which is only needed to build more houses that would be best suited elsewhere. Please sign to show your support.