Pictures have been released of the inside of the historic Cotton Exchange building showing the first stage of the proposed £8 million redevelopment.
Specialist steeplejacks and rope access technicians, High Level Maintenance have started work inside the space during the summer to carry out urgent safety work to the roof. The Tockholes based company have over 40 years of experience in ecclesiastical buildings including Liverpool Anglican, Blackburn and Salford Cathedral.
The £30,000 work is expected to be completed in time for visitors to look inside the space on Saturday 10 September as part of Heritage Open Days.
Alastair Murdoch, trustee said, ‘We need to raise an initial £60,000 in order to open the doors by April 2018. The vision is to create a performance and exhibition space of incredible size and magnitude to stage events of national and international importance.’
Tony Warburton, Director High Level Maintenance said, ‘We’ve worked on many prestigious heritage buildings over the years but the potential of the Blackburn Exchange has taken our breath away and we feel privileged to be working on this space.’
This week it was announced that a new £15m cultural regeneration fund has been set up to help the North of England build a “lasting regional legacy” from the upcoming ‘Great Exhibition of the North’.
Announced by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, the new Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund will make capital grants of up to £4m to established partnerships between businesses and local authorities.The government fund intends to back projects such as renovations for music venues or tech start-up centres. The successful projects will promote sustainable cultural and creative regeneration and benefit areas in the North that have had low levels of cultural investment.
Pictures courtesy of Square Cactus
