New backing to regenerate two historic buildings
PLANS to regenerate two historic buildings in the West Midlands have been boosted by a fresh injection of support.
The derelict former Erdington Baths in north Birmingham and Victorian Globe House in Walsall will both now undergo restorative work.
The schemes are expected to create more than 150 jobs and will see 35 new homes and commercial space developed across the two sites.
West Midlands Combined Authority has pledged to back the two projects but full details of the funding it will award are still to be finalised. The Erdington project will see the former swimming baths, in Mason Road, transformed into an enterprise and community hub with facilities including a restaurant and café.
The former baths, which are almost 100 years old, have stood empty since they were closed in 2014.
Witton Lodge Community Association submitted plans earlier this year for a multimillion-pound regeneration that will turn it into a multi-use site with an emphasis on helping small businesses and entrepreneurs, to be called E3 Hub.
There would be affordable working and meeting spaces for local SMEs, individuals and residents groups.
Other proposals for the building include breakout areas, a co-working space, events area and stage, restaurant, bar and café, community garden and a rear outbuilding used as a market space.
The Globe House, in Bradford Place in Walsall town centre, is grade II listed and will be converted from offices into 35 apartments. At least 20 per cent of the apartments will be classed as affordable under the combined authority’s own definition which is linked to local wages rather than property prices.
Globe House was constructed in 1888 to mark the previous year’s Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and was used as a college for more than a century before being converted into offices.
The building’s façade and historical features would be mostly unaltered by the proposed conversion into apartments.
The decision by the combined authority’s board to back these two regenerations will now trigger negotiations between itself and developers to finalise the investment deals needed to unlock and deliver the schemes.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “With the investments we are making into both Erdington Baths and Globe House, we are helping to transform derelict sites into thriving centres of local life bringing much-needed jobs and homes into the very heart of these communities.
“It is great news that, at the same time as we are getting this vital regeneration under way, we are preserving these beautiful heritage buildings for future generations to enjoy - building on our backing of the sensitive restoration of two historic buildings on Corporation Street in Birmingham.”