When their services were been needed, which was alarmingly very regularly, the local fire brigade faced an extremely dangerous situation. Local residents complained that glass has fallen out of the broken windows onto Rockside Steps, which was obviously very hazardous.

This series of photographs were taken from Cavendish Road. The shot on the right shows the east end of the building. Broken glass in the windows and others which had to be boarded up are clearly visible.

The final photograph of this series clearly shows the appalling state reached at the rear of the building, where the retaining wall collapsed in January 2001.

This view was taken from Cavendish Road and Rockside Steps and the interior was then exposed to all weather. After these pictures were taken the situation worsened considerably, as another section of the rear wall fell away.

Deterioration continued, though rescue should have been under way. Permission was supposedly given to developers to begin renovations and conversion into luxury apartments in 2001, but at the end of that year nothing had happened.