Ordsall Hall – Heritage Lottery Fund Bid Update
The Council, lead by the Cultural Services Division, plans to submit a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in early winter this year to help fund: -
- The conservation and repair of this Grade 1 Listed building
- Develop the building and grounds so that the Hall can better fulfil its role as an educational and community facility
1.0Development Work
A number of specialist reports have now been received. The key conclusions of which are: -
- The building is essentially sound, but
- A great deal of work is required to bring the Hall to the standard a Grade 1 Listed building should be
- There are elements in the structure that are historically extremely important.
- All are agreed that it should continue to be a community and educational facility, not a ‘National Trust’ house
- The creation of a community/education room would enhance its use
- A range of access issues need to be solved, including width of doors, lift access to upper floors etc.
2.0 Feasibility work
The finding of these reports will be utilised by designers to develop proposals for the building which will include the conservation & restoration work, access improvements, provision of an education / community room within the current large store room and a landscape scheme for the grounds.
Initial ideas are being work on now and it is the intention to make a presentation to the Community Committee at the November meeting.
3.0 Programme & funding
Subject to the proposal being approved by the Committee & subsequently by the Council a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund will be submitted. It is likely to be June at the earliest next year that a decision on the initial first stage of the process is known. If approved, a further approval stage has to be gone through which means it will not be until 2008 that the majority of the works will be undertaken. It may be possible to fund advance landscape works from separate funding and this could occur next year.
4.0 Community involvement
While the intensive technical work has been done the Neighbourhood Manager has represented the local community on the core group. It is, however, vital that the local Ordsall, and the wider Salford, community is involved in the development of ideas for the Hall.
At the November Committee, it would be useful to get members’ ideas on how this can be done. For instance,
- Can we set up a ‘Friends of Ordsall Hall’ group?
- Can we have a wider management group which involves local people of all ages?
- Could we use questionnaires to find people’s views on the Hall and its future?
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