Fresh £5.5m bid to revamp Memo (From Campaign Series)

Fresh £5.5m bid to revamp Memo

8:40am Wednesday 1st July 2009

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

A MAJOR step forward in the bid to restore a landmark Valleys building to its former glory is set to take place this week.

Plans for the Newbridge Memo including the renovation of its ballroom and auditorium and a new information centre have been submitted to Caerphilly council and are due to be discussed by the planning committee on Wednesday.

Trustees of the Memo have outlined an £5.5 million project which could bring community activities and events back to Newbridge Memorial Hall and the Celynen Collieries Workmen's Institute.

The Institute would have an information resource centre on the ground floor and there would be meeting rooms and a function room upstairs.

The next-door Memorial Hall's ballroom would be retained and its auditorium, which was previously used as a cinema and theatre, would be restored and a seating block installed.

The new auditorium is not expected to be suitable to stage large-scale productions but could be used for educational visits and small productions and concerts.

There are plans to build a new link between the Institute and the Memorial Hall by demolishing the current link and constructing a four-storey block with a glazed front between the two buildings.

The first stage would involve the restoration of the Institute along with the partial restoration of the Memorial Hall's ballroom.

Project manager Rob Jackson said funding was a "chicken and the egg"

situation, with many grants dependant on success of others.

A grant of £130,000 has been secured with CADW as well an Assembly grant of £290,000 from the community facilities fund.

Should the Memo secure the necessary funding, it is hoped all the work can be finished before 2013.

Both the Institute, which was built in 1907, and the Memorial Hall, which followed in 1924, are Grade II listed buildings.

Returning the buildings to their original style forms part of the renovation plans and some elements which have been modernised, including the entrance doors to the Institute, will be restored to their former character.

Trustees of Celynen Collieries Institute and the Memorial Hall have submitted the planning application.

There have been no objections to the plans and it is recommended that planning permission is granted.

Six years ago the Friends of the Memo was formed to discuss bringing the building back from the brink and the scheme has suffered from a number of setbacks over the years.

In 2004 the group narrowly missed out on funding when it was beaten into second place on BBC TV series Restoration and last year the Memo's first application to the Heritage Lottery Fund was rejected.

The group is awaiting the decision on a £2.8 million Heritage Lottery bid and is putting the finishing touches on a Big Lottery bid of around £500,000.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)