A historic monument in the heart of Liverpool is to be turned into student accommodation by a developer who has served time in a US prison for passport fraud and tax evasion.
Renovation work has started on St Andrew’s Church on Rodney Street near a number of Liverpool John Moores University buildings and the Liverpool Students’ Union.
The company in charge of the works is Wirral-based, Middle England Developments, a company owned by Merseyside-born Nigel Russell. The 51-year-old has served time in a United States federal jail for passport fraud, tax evasion and owning a firearm without a licence. He was deported in 2004.
Questions are being asked about the suitability of Russell to be investing in Liverpool’s historic monuments. The Liverpool Echo reported in December that local licensing bosses were probing the issue after councillors raised concerns.
Defending himself at a press conference at St Andrew’s Church last month, Russell was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post as saying: “I made a mistake seven years ago when I tried to buy a passport – I have served my time in a federal prison for that.
“My company employs 300 people in this city and this will be the seventh listed building we have converted.”
Liverpool City Council bought the building back in 2008 for £100,000 and spent an additional £150,000 on emergency repair works.
The church is probably best known for the folklore surrounding Sir James McKenzie’s pyramid shaped tomb situated on its grounds.
Local legend has it that McKenzie, a shady 19th century entrepreneur, is buried inside it, dressed in his finest and sitting at a table with a winning deck of cards in his hands so as to trick the devil himself after he lost his soul in a game of poker.
The current plan is to transform the ruined church into a 100-room student accommodation to be ready for September 2012/2013.
By Chris Cunningham
http://www.jmu-journalism.org.uk/#/news-551/4557869032
