A historic UK building that used to be a working cotton mill has been purchased by Alligator Self Storage, which will make it into a self storage facility.
The mill, called Egyptian Mill, is located in Bolton, in northwest England. It was built in 1961 and functioned as a mill until 1960. Its owners then tried to sell it as a residential real estate development, but were unsuccessful. Last year, the Al-Ehya Trust made plans to turn the cotton mill into a boarding school for Muslim girls. The trust, which was founded by Pakistani sheikh Hazrat Pir Alauddin Siddiqui, was intended to provide girls with a traditional Islamic education while also providing a full range of classes in science, arts, and information technology. But developers with Al-Ehya became frustrated when the Bolton Council seemed uninterested in approving the school application.
Instead, the five-story historic mill will become Alligator Self Storage's first northwest site. Alligator's CEO, Alister Jack, commented to the Bolton News: "Self storage businesses are a veritable Aladdin's cave....When you convert a building like Egyptian Mill to become a storage centre, the diversity of uses for the building is incredible. We anticipate all sorts of businesses will make use of the space, from builders and plumbers using it as a lock-up, to lawyers and accountants using it for archive space."
In the UK, self storage units are being used for many purposes in addition to storage. Some units are used as personal gyms or rehearsal studios, for example. Egyptian Mill contains many units of varying sizes, which could be used for a wide variety of purposes.
Alligator Self Storage is currently the second largest independently operated self storage business in the UK. It operates 17 storage centers across the country.
In the meantime, the Al-Ehya Trust has found a new location for its Muslim girls' boarding school: the former Burnley College building.
Sources used:
Alligator Self Storage. "Alligator Self Storage in Bolton."
"Century-old Egyptian Mill to become 'Aladdin's Cave'." The Bolton News. April 8, 2010.
Magill, Peter. "Plans for 1,500-pupil Muslim girls boarding school in Burnley." This is Lancashire. October 23, 2009.
"Muslim school plan for Bolton is scrapped." The Bolton News. July 23, 2009.