£500k to start Great Harwood Town Hall revamp (From Lancashire Telegraph)

£500k to start Great Harwood Town Hall revamp

10:00pm Monday 8th February 2010 in

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FUNDING of half-a-million pounds has been secured for the first phase of a £1.5million revamp of Great Harwood Town Hall.

The creation of the business hub in the listed buiding, which is empty, will also mean many of its internal features, such as the curving wrought iron staircase, offset by a huge stained glass window, will be on show for the first time since 1974.

The business hub will be for small upcoming businesses, supported by a centralised reception, plus specialist business advisers to help new entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground, and to restart failing businesses.

The building has many original internal doors and still boasts parquet floors, carved wooden skirting, panelling and original mouldings.

There is also a war memorial plaque dedicated to the ‘townsmen and women’ of Great Harwood who joined the forces during the Second World War.

Besides new offices and a central reception, it is also expected that some space will be dedicated for community use, though these plans have not yet been finalised.

With a third of the funding now secured for the £1.5million revamp, phase one will now go ahead, with funding for phase two to be secured later on.

The first phase will see an external revamp, sandblasting of the frontage and replacement of some windows, plus the creation of the reception area.

The second phase will see work begin on creating dedicated office space.

After failing to qualify for the scheme last year, Hyndburn Council has just announced it has manged to secure the £500,000 funding from the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative after creating a partnership with new owners Globe Enterprises Ltd, in which the council has a one-third share.

The town hall, built in 1900, has not been used by the people of Great Harwood since 1974 when the Great Harwood Urban District Council was disbanded.

The council’s deputy leader, Coun Peter Clarke, said: “It is fantastic news and is just in time to save the many gems hidden inside this building.

"If it had gone unused any longer, it would have fallen into serious disrepair.

"Now it can be a building the whole town can be proud of.”