New use revealed for former Hartlepool library after refurbishment

Hartlepool Borough Council chiefs have agreed to lease the former Throston Library premises, in Glamorgan Grove, to Hartlepool Aspire Trust, which runs the town’s Catcote Academy.

Terms of the agreement state the site will be used for the “education of secondary, post 16 and post 19 students with special educational needs only”.

Council decision records note the local authority has “carried out a scheme of refurbishment and alteration of the building on behalf of Hartlepool Aspire Trust”.

A proposal to relocate the library services previously provided at the site to the nearby Throston Youth Project was approved by the adult and community based services committee in September 2021.

At that meeting it was also agreed that officers engage further with Catcote Academy so that more detailed feasibility work could be undertaken to secure the long-term use of the former library.

Council chiefs have agreed to lease the building to the trust for a period of 10 years, with rent being charged at £1 per annum.

The library closed at the premises for the last time in March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic before the service reopened at its new location at Throston Youth Project, in Wiltshire Way, two years later.

It was said at that time “a local special needs school” was exploring using the site for “sixth form provision for young people with autism”.

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