A fire-damaged nursery in Catford is to be restored after Lewisham Council agreed to appoint a surveyor and award a contract for the reinstatement works.
Rushey Green Nursery, a three-storey building in Catford, was left with “significant damage” after a blaze erupted on the evening of January 31 this year. Around 60 firefighters and eight fire engines were sent to tackle the fire. There were no injuries reported, but nearly half of the building was destroyed.
According to a council Cabinet report, firefighting and the large amounts of water used to extinguish the fire caused “what appears to be extensive further damage” to the building.
The cause of the fire has been recorded as “undetermined”, because concerns about the building’s structural stability have made it inaccessible and hampered the investigation.
During a meeting of Mayor and Cabinet on Wednesday evening, November 4, the council agreed to approve the procurement and awarding of a contract to deliver the reinstatement works, and to appoint a surveyor to assess the damage and the works that need to take place.
Cllr Rudi Schmidt, Deputy Mayor of Lewisham and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Economic Development, said: “Essentially, we are going to get the costs recovered by insurance, but we need to appoint a surveyor to properly assess the damage and the works that need to take place. We need to get this done quickly because the longer we leave it, the less rent we’re charging, so this is just an agreement to appoint that surveyor.”
A Cabinet report stated that Anthony Patrick Associates has been identified as the “preferred supplier”, with their bid reportedly demonstrating “a very clear understanding of the contract requirements”.
The reinstatement will follow the council’s usual route for damaged buildings: a surveyor first assesses the full extent of the damage, including any hidden structural and water damage, before a contractor is appointed to carry out the repairs, with the costs recovered through the council’s insurance.
The building has a long history in Catford. It was opened by Queen Mary in 1918 and originally housed the Lewisham Municipal Maternity Home and the council’s Maternity and Child Welfare Clinics. Due to high demand, some maternity services eventually moved to larger nearby halls, and the maternity home closed at the start of World War Two in 1939.
The site has been used as a nursery for more than 35 years, with Rushey Green Nursery operating from several rooms across the three floors and serving up to 95 children. As well as the three-storey building with a basement, the site is home to a two-storey coach house.
The timeline runs from the fire on January 31, through months of assessment while the building remained inaccessible, to the Cabinet decision on November 4 to move ahead with the surveyor and the reinstatement contract. The next step is the surveyor’s assessment, which will set out the full scope and cost of the works.
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