Uncertain future for Roundhouse Funding hopes for unique city landmark delayed because of election
HOPES of regenerating one of Birmingham’s most striking buildings have been delayed because of the General Election.
The National Trust will have to wait longer than anticipated to see if it can restore the Roundhouse, in Sheepcote Street, near Brindleyplace.
Theresa May’s call for the General Election on June 8 has put back the expected announcement of crucial Heritage Lottery Funding to at least midJune.
The National Trust, working in partnership with the Canal & River Trust, has applied for £2.5 million of aid as part of a £3.3 million project to turn the Roundhouse into a major tourist attraction, where the balance of the cost would have to be raised by other means.
If the HLF grant is awarded and the project work is completed on time in autumn 2018, it is hoped the Roundhouse will be attracting at least 50,000 visitors per year by the year 2020.
Of those, 22,000 are expected to join organised walking, cycling and boating tours, which already take place.
And, if the National Trust not successful with its is bid, there is currently no Plan B to repurpose the 1874 edifice.
It is currently used as a starting point for walking, cycling and boating tours and has seen a neighbouring pub – the former Fiddle and Bone – reopened as a gin bar and distillery. Shaped like a giant horse
shoe, the Grade II-listed Roundhouse was designed by local architect WH Ward, who also created the Great Western Arcade in Colmore Row. Ward won a competition organised by Birmingham Corporation to create somewhere suitable to stable horses and store goods being transported to and from the neighbouring canal network. One of the site’s key features is its striking 143-year-old round wall which faces the canal. Planning permission has been granted to create a window in the facade so visitors on the first floor inside can enjoy a view over the canal.
Although the National Trust has many properties around the West Midlands, including Packwood House and Baddesley Clinton near Solihull, it currently only has one other site in Birmingham itself.
Launched more than a decade ago, the Back to Backs on Inge Street and Hurst Street are consistently rated as the No 1 tourist attraction on TripAdvisor from a list of 278 things to do in the city.