Page "Euston Arch" Paragraph 10

A suggestion to move the arch was made in 1938 by the London Midland & Scottish Railway ( LMS ), which proposed the rebuilding of Euston Station according to an American-inspired design by Percy Thomas, a respected architect hired with the help of a loan provided by the government.

After returning from a tour of modern stations in the United States, Thomas proposed a large stripped-Classical block with wings, which incorporated a hotel and offices as well as the station.

This plan required the removal of the Euston Arch.

Gerald Wellesley and Albert Richardson of the Georgian Group, a conservation organisation, managed to persuade Lord Stamp, chairman of the LMS, that it could be resited on the Euston Road, even though Thomas had insisted that it would not be possible to move it.

Ultimately these plans for reconstruction were never realised as the Second World War commenced the following year.