The Liverpool branch of Lewis's was thefirst to open in the country, in 1856. And itnow remains the only one still tradingunder that name.

Over the years thousands of staff, not tomention customers, have walked throughthe doors of this iconic city centre building, which is now the subject of aredevelopment plan.

Lead artist Stephen King had heard of a'secret' 5th floor, and upon makinginquires and gaining access, was amazedto discover both a 1950s restaurant and ahair and beauty salon from the 1970s, ina state of disrepair but otherwise frozen intime.

Together with arts organisation NeutralSpoon, he developed an ambitious andhigh quality contemporary arts project thatpulled together a wide variety of partners,and which has engaged or will engage adiverse range of people in Liverpool.This multi-faceted project has many

A Department Story:The Fifth Floor Lewis’sLiverpool

Seats and dryers, abandoned 1970ssalon. Photo: Stephen King Photography

layers, some now complete and others indevelopment - all of them reaching out tothe public in a way that is warm andengaging, and involving many people inan art project who would perhaps nevernormally do so. A film produced with exand current store employees is to be

Focusing not just on Lewis's department store and its importance in the city, but onthe little-known '5th floor' - which closed in the 1980s and has remained untouchedever since

screened at the A.N.D. Festival, at theNational Conservation Centre and on theBBC Big Screen in September.

A newly commissioned photography bookwill be launched by Liverpool UniversityPress at the end of 2009, and a full exhibition of the photos will be held at theNational Conservation Centre betweenFebruary and July 2010. In the run-up tothat a selection will also be displayed inthe windows of the store itself. A website -www.thelewissproject.co.uk - goes live inOctober 2009, allowing the public to sharetheir stories and memories.

Angharad Williams, director of NeutralSpoon, said: ‘This project gives us theopportunity to really engage with local

audiences on a subject they can easilyrelate to, a subject they are part of. It iscreating new works of contemporary artwith participants from new audiences in away that is accessible.

‘This is an extremely innovative and exciting project that can only take place atthis moment in time. After 2009, the building will no longer exist as it is, andthe memories and this chance to capturethem will be lost.’

This project is helping to revitalise a partof the city centre which was in danger ofbeing left behind as the retail trade shiftstowards the new Liverpool One development.

As well as wide levels of public interestand engagement, the project has contributed greatly to the professional andcreative development of those involved,and has stimulated a broad range of partnership working within the local artsand wider communities.

As well as Neutral Spoon and StephenKing, significant roles are played by partners Vergo Retail, Liverpool UniversityPress, FACT (Foundation for Art andCreative Technology) and NationalMuseums Liverpool.

The project was supported through a£24,000 grant from Arts Council England,North West's Grants for the arts programme.

www.stephenkingphotography.co.ukwww.neutralspoon.co.uk

Chef Les Riedyk, Lewis’s Catering, 1952-1986Photo: Stephen King Photography