ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
The ex-chair of Liverpool's Harold House community centre, Sam Beilin, has denied that his personal finance issues contributed to its closure.
Mr Beilin, one of the city's best-known property developers, was declared bankrupt in April, with reported debts of £1m. Mr Beilin resigned as chairman of the charity which runs Harold House shortly afterwards.
Mr Beilin reaffirmed that the decision to close Harold House in May was due to "massive, massive losses" and high running costs, while fewer young people had meant a drop in income.
But he said hopes of some communal leaders that Liverpool could attract new residents to sustain the community looked bleak. "You can't talk about just a few Israelis and a few business people coming in. There needs to be a radical rethink with all community organisations merging into one," he said.
But Russell Cooper, who said 150 people on his Facebook group wanted a new management in place to reopen Harold House, maintained that community buildings should not be closed because not enough Jews were using them. "It's no longer a Jewish house, it's a community centre."
He said the centre should have launched a wider appeal instead of relying on big donations.
But Mr Beilin responded: "If people want to get involved, there will be every facility to do so. But we don't need 30,000 sq ft of 1960s asbestos-ridden space, costing £100,000 to run, in order to do that."