The Bermuda National Trust promised last night to ?investigate? a planning application by the West End Development Corporation (Wedco) to use an abandoned 150-year-old Grade One Listed building for as a warehouse for a fish importation and packing business.

Likely built of Bermuda limestone by convict labour around 1850, the building at Number Seven, Cochrane Road, Ireland Island South, the building features an impressive 50 foot high chimney, which is believed to be structurally unsound.

It was purpose built as a salt water pumping station to allow flushing and firefighting, as the Royal Naval dockyard expanded. A steam engine was used.

When contacted late yesterday, Trust director Steve Conway said he would ?investigate the planning application?, but added: ?However, any restorations should respect the history and character of the building.?

A structural engineering report, engineers Entech Limited wrote: ?The building and chimney should be restored or demolished. Left unattended, the building will become increasingly unstable and could suffer from catastrophic failure.?

Entech wrote the pumping station is one of the finest surviving buildings on Ireland Island but in recent years has been the subject of neglect and some vandalism.

Entech said the building was in a poor, dilapidated condition and the chimney significantly cracked because of vegetation that covered the building until recently. ?The roof is framed in timber with corrugated ? likely asbestos ? cladding,? Entech wrote, but added: ?Its landmark chimney is the only one of its size to be built of local hard limestone.?

The Historic Buildings Advisory Committee (HBAC) supported the proposal.

?The Committee supports the proposed light industrial use of the building,? HBAC said. ?It is a unique landmark and efforts should be made to repair and maintain the structure.?

Businessman Andrew Farias intends to lease the property, and expects ? pending Planning approval ? to pay around $200,000 to fix the main building and Wedco would help him fix the parts of the building it used as a water pumping facility.

He said he would like to start work on the joint venture by next summer.

On November 18 architect Derek Mitchell said it had been unoccupied since the Dockyard was acquired by Government from the Royal Navy in the mid-1950?s.

Mr. Mitchell said Mr. Farias approached Wedco with the restoration idea and conceded his plan was against Planning regulations as it was located on land currently zoned for recreational use. Wedco?s business development manager Edward Williams said the quango was keen to see the historic building preserved for future generations.

?The building was severely damaged by Fabian,? he said.

He said the chimney and historical features of the building would be preserved.

The maximum length of lease Wedco could give Mr. Farias ? or any tenant ? was 21 years, he said, however, it included clauses that any repairs, or alterations to the site needed Wedco and Planning approval.

?If we don?t have something done about it, it will fall down,? he said, adding the site had been archaeologically investigated in the past, however, the location was too remote and small to be turned into a museum.

?It was not possible to turn it into a museum. A lot of work needed to be done. It was not very large and it was in an isolated area,? Mr. Williams said. ?It?s not like a lot of people were lining up to do it.?

Senior Environmental Health Officer George Simons said he would grant Health Approval to the proposed fish warehouse.

Archaeologist Dr. Edward Harris did not comment as he is on the Wedco Board, however, Historical Society president Andrew Bermingham applauded Mr. Farias and Wedco for saving a unique building.

Mr. Bermingham said it could even have been built in the 1840?s or 1850?s.

?It is irreplaceable, one of a kind, if, Mr. Farias had not come in, one storm would have knocked it down,? he said. ?I congratulate the benefactor, Mr. Farias. To heck with what its used for! (Just) As long as the integrity of the building and the chimney is kept and any additions are done in a way to merge with what is left.?