Apollo relaunch: Peterlee's brutalist blast is given a Grade II* listing

It has had graffiti sprayed on it more times than it's possible to mention, been a hangout for troublesome youths and faced numerous calls for it to be simply pulled down.

But now a piece of concrete art in the middle of a new town housing estate finds itself among the most protected structures in the UK.

The heritage minister John Penrose announced Grade II* listing for the Apollo Pavilion in Peterlee, County Durham, a love it or loathe it piece of brutalist art designed by the artist Victor Pasmore.

Grade II* status now puts the pavilion in the top 5% of all listed buildings, joining the likes of Middlesbrough's Transporter bridge, the London Coliseum and Eastbourne pier.

David Taylor-Gooby, chairman of the Apollo Pavilion community association, said it was a very pleasing day. "It is the end of a long road. Whether you like it or don't like it, the pavilion is something we should be proud of and benefits the whole community."

The pavilion was built in 1969, the year of the Apollo XI mission to the moon, as the centrepiece of the optimistically named Sunny Blunts housing estate. For 10 years it was well maintained, before going into serious decay and decline when Easington district council took over in 1979.

"It was fenced off and kids regarded that as a challenge and it had graffiti sprayed on it," said Taylor-Gooby. "It became a rather miserable thing and a lot of people wanted rid of it and to some extent I understood them. It did look pretty horrible."

Taylor-Gooby began the battle to put the pavilion right rather than knock it down and the restoration it deserved took place two years ago.

The late Tony Banks turned the pavilion down for listing in 1998 while sports minister and Taylor-Gooby said that refusal turned out to be a blessing. "When the application was made before it was in an awful mess but it has now been restored, due largely to community effort."

Taylor-Gooby believes the younger generation is interested in and supportive of the pavilion. He said: "I'm not sure I'd say it's a thing of beauty, I would say a thing of interest and an icon of modernism. It symbolises the philosophy behind Peterlee, which was modernist and trying to create something good and progressive. The pavilion is part of our heritage."

English Heritage and now ministers agree. Penrose said: "This is a striking example of how abstract art and 'brutalist' architecture can come together to make a building that is quite unique, and all the more so now that it has been rescued from dereliction in a highly successful project supported by Lottery funding and driven by the commitment of local people."

The pavilion also highlights the involvement of Pasmore, one of Britain's leading post-war artists, in Peterlee. He was brought in as consultant head of design for the new town in 1954 when the architect Berthold Lubetkin, who was famous for London zoo's penguin pool, left because he was not allowed by the National Coal Board to build towers.

Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire