DR Nicholas Penny, the Director of the National Gallery, was one of the guests of honour at the opening of Manchester Art Gallery's latest exhibition last week: Home, Land and Sea, Art in the Netherlands 1600-1800.
Maybe the unthinkable has to be thought, maybe Manchester has to seek a commercial partner and maybe the Hall has to be sold.
Dr Penny complimented the exhibition and the work of Maria Balshaw, the director of Manchester Art Gallery and the Whitworth Art Gallery for making the venues such exciting components of the British art scene.
Then he said: "The next job for Maria is to get started on Heaton Hall, Manchester's extremely important neo-Classical house in Heaton Park. This will be incredibly difficult but is urgent."
The mothballing of Heaton Hall in the last couple of years has been controversial in the extreme - even featuring in Private Eye.
It is the best historic and cultural asset outside the city centre but within the city boundaries. It is of national importance and Grade One listed.
As we've written before: 'Heaton Hall, the centre-piece of the park, is in danger of mouldering away. It's to the city's shame that the west wing of this lovely building has been a roofed shell since a fire in the 1983 - thirty years ago. Built in 1772, designed by James Wyatt, Heaton Hall lies closed to the public, shuttered off, and yet it has been described as 'a building of refinement and elegance not exceeded in any English house of these years'.'
Speaking to Confidential Councillor Rosa Battle, executive member for culture and leisure, said: "Manchester City Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund has invested money to weatherproof and to keep the building safe and in a sound condition to help us as we continue to work up proposals and plans for Heaton Hall.
"Our long term ambition is to bring Heaton Hall back into public use and over the last five years we have worked on two significant bids in the region of £10-£18m, however they were unsuccessful at that time.
"We realise we need business partners to make our ambition sustainable and viable moving forward and we are always on the look out for serious stakeholders to help us bring the Hall back into use."
The obvious idea would be to transfer the house to the National Trust, but it would appear the Trust aren't in a position to take it on sat present.
Maybe the unthinkable has to be thought, maybe Manchester has to seek a commercial partner and maybe the Hall has to be sold.
Would it possible for a hotel operator to utilise the burnt out west wing and parts of the east wing and central portion while some of the jewel-like set-piece rooms remain open to the public?
An active, considerate and careful use would be infinitely preferable to the current darkening of the Hall to all and sundry.
That Mancunians, tourists and visitors can't experience these lovely rooms is a crying shame.
Heaton Hall
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