It might not look like much, but Bristol wouldn’t be the city it is today without this building. Many trace Bristol’s legendary street art scene back to John Nation’s Aerosol Art Project at Barton Hill Youth Centre in the ‘80s, which gave teenagers a safe place to practice graffiti without retribution.
The Dug Out, as it is sometimes called, was where legends like Banksy, Inkie and Cheo got started. It has since become an amateur boxing club, but the oldest surviving graffiti artwork of Banksy remains – the barely visible ‘Poodle Bulldog’.
Wellspring Settlement, the community organisation that owns Barton Hill ABC, have to sell due to “financial challenges”:
As a charity, we face significant financial challenges that require us to make difficult decisions, including about the building that has been home to the local boxing club for the past decade. Despite the club’s valuable contributions to the community, the costs of maintaining the building far exceed the rent paid by the club.
As such, maintaining the building in its current form is no longer financially viable for us. We have been exploring other possible solutions to this with the boxing club for some months but have not yet been able to reach an alternative solution. To address the financial risks, trustees have agreed to market the building for sale to explore whether a buyer can be found.
We have an opportunity to put our finances on a more secure footing if we can raise money from the sale.
It’s currently up for a guide price of £650,000, which comes with approximately 0.33 acres, an L-shaped single-storey commercial premises (approx. 4,030 ft², a tarmac sports pitch and off-street parking for several vehicles. But it’s highlighted for its potential for residential/commercial development, as well as commercial or community uses.
This is a unique opportunity to own a piece of Bristol’s history, or tear it down… To learn more about this property at 65 Barton Hill Rd, Bristol BS5 0AP head here.