In 1757 members of a small literary club met in the house of William Everard, a teacher, to discuss reviews, periodicals and later books, which they circulated amongst themselves. On the 1st of May 1758 the Liverpool Library was established and the books which were originally stored in a large chest in Everard's parlor were moved to a number of different premises around the city centre as the collection increased. A proposal was put forward on the12th of May 1800 to club members for the construction of the first gentlemen's subscription library in England in order to house their overflowing collection which had outgrown its current home on Lord Street. The original design by Thomas Harrison, the Chester architect, had it facing Church Street with a flight of steps leading up to the entrance but this plan was altered and construction work began in 1800 under the guide of William Slater. One of its most notable backers was the slavery abolitionist William Roscoe who along with others of his ilk had a desire to avoid the often rowdy merchants' coffee houses, places frequented by merchants involved in the slave trade. The building was called The Lyceum and was named after the garden in Athens where Aristotle taught philosophy.
Its neoclassical exterior is built with ashlar stone topped with a part mansard slate pitched roof with a rectangular recessed portico held up with six iconic columns facing Bold Street. The main entrance consists of 4 six-panel doors with architraves, cornices and console frames. On each side of the portico are three slightly recessed windows divided by Doric columns. On the left side facing Church street are five evenly spaced half length windows with the first and fifth having pediments. The centre three windows are divided by four iconic columns and topped with alto relievo images of Greek characters by F.A. Legé. The left relief represents Navigation, a seated woman geographer with a divider measuring distances on a globe, this is speculated to be Eratosthenes. The middle represents The Arts, Apolo the god of art, music and poetry is holding a lyre, sitting by a serpentine incense burner. On the right is Hermes representing Commerce, sitting on a cotton bale, holding a money bag with a ship in the background. The lower third of the building has full length windows and two doors. Historically this part of the building had a semi-circular area with trees, but has since been flagged over and railings added.
The Lyceum opened on the 17th of December 1802 at a cost of £11,000 with both the newsroom and library acting as separate institutions offering shares priced at 12 guineas for the newsroom and five guineas for the library. The newsroom contained a coffee room and reading room where members had access to provincial, London and Irish newspapers, magazines, reviews and maps. The library was housed in a circular room which was estimated in 1807 to contain upwards of 10,000 volumes. Other rooms in the building were used for giving lectures and as meeting rooms for committee members. Over time the newsroom expanded, eventually taking over most of the building to become known as the Lyceum Gentlemen's Club.
The library part of the building closed in 1942 and its collection of books was given to Liverpool Public Library. Next, in 1952, the club moved into new premises in the city centre as the Lyceum was given Grade II listed status on the 28th of June 1952. The building was sold to developers, who in 1971 submitted an application to Liverpool City Council to demolish it to make way for a shopping development and an extension to Liverpool Central Station. Thankfully a petition, 'Save the Lyceum' together with 'SAVE Britain's Heritage, forced the D of E to purchase the building.
In 1984 the Lyceum was bought by the Post Office intending it to be their city headquarters and a philatelic museum. However, a major national restructuring meant the plans could no longer go ahead due to limited resources and the Lyceum was sold back to the developers, who again requested consent for its demolition. This time opposition from the city council and English Heritage resulted in part of the restored building being leased back to the Post Office and other parts converted to retail outlets. The lower floor became a building society, the ground floor housed the post office and also a succession of different bars/cafes under various names including 'Life Bar', 'Prohibition', 'The Bar and Grill' and the 'Lyceum Café'. When the post office closed in 2004 it was followed by the other outlets until the building was eventually left empty. It is currently re-let as a city centre Chinese restaurant.
http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/12/remembering-liverpool-structures-st.html
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