Published at 15:42, Wednesday, 27 January 2010

A MAJOR revamp of St Kevin’s Hall, Cleator Moor, is under way to develop it into high-quality office accommodation creating new business and training opportunities for the town.

St Kevin's Hall, Cleator Moor: The long-empty building is in for a facelift

The town’s prominent sandstone building on High Street, which dates back to 1883, has been empty and boarded up for years and in need of major refurbishment.

After 12 months of work to secure funding for the development, Phoenix Enterprise Centre has announced that the building will be spruced up to make way for office, meeting and training space, after it received £323,000.

Joanne Crowe, operations manager at Phoenix Enterprise Centre, said: “It’s taken 12 months of hard work to secure the funding, but it will be well worth it.

“St Kevin’s is a beautiful old building which, once refurbished, will provide flexible accommodation that can be used for a range of purposes including office, meeting and training space.

“We need this additional space in Cleator Moor as demand for accommodation is outstripping supply.”

Funding to purchase and refurbish the building has been awarded from the Social Investment Business through the Futurebuilders Fund and Regen NE Copeland.

Jonathan Lewis, chief executive of the Social Investment Business, said: “Through all our funds we are committed to investing in both established and start-up organisations, and it’s great that we can help support the St Kevin’s Hall regeneration to benefit the whole community. We wish them all the best of luck in the future.”

Sarah Mitchell, regeneration manager for Regen NE Copeland, said: “We are delighted to be able to support this scheme as Regen NE Copeland is working hard to improve the image of our towns and villages and bring empty or derelict buildings back to use.

“St Kevin’s Hall is an eyesore on the main thoroughfare into the town and is a building the community wanted to see improved for a long time.”

The refurbishment is expected to be completed by late spring.

Phoenix Enterprise Centre already supplies work space and office accommodation in Cleator Moor in Phoenix Court and Phoenix House, which houses more than 30 businesses including Phoenix Youth Project, Closer to Home Rehabilitation Services and Gen II.

Phoenix Enterprise Centre currently provides over 32,000 sq ft of workspace and office accommodation in Cleator Moor at Phoenix Court and Phoenix House.

It houses more than 30 businesses including Phoenix Youth Project, Closer to Home Rehabilitation Services and Gen II.

Funding to purchase and refurbish St Kevin’s Hall has been awarded from the Social Investment Business through the Futurebuilders Fund and Regen NE Copeland.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk