Plans to refurbish and reuse historic ex-school building
SITE HAS BEEN VACANT FOR NUMBER OF YEARS
NORTH East Lincolnshire Council l has announced plans to refurbish h and put into reuse an historic, , grade two-listed former school l building.
Holme Hill School is Grimsby’s s oldest educational site, located in East Marsh Ward. Plans are afoot to renovate it to allow it be used d as a hub for the council and its s partners.
Five other council premises s would be vacated once the refurbishment is complete, allowing costs savings to also be made.
On Wednesday, the council’s cabinet approved the principle of an open market tender to find out how much the investment works on the main buildings will cost.
Funding for the restoration of Holme Hill’s clock tower has already been secured as part of the council’s Heritage At Risk programme and is not part of the latest plans.
One freehold property of the site is proposed to be rented out, or even put on the market. If after the renovations it is sold, the money gained will be put into the council’s capital programme.
The proposal is for the main building to combine services previously spread out over five premises, with a focus on children and families.
The report considered by cabinet put forward the case that investing in refurbishing the grade
two-listed li d building b ildi would ld see the h council “leading by example in regenerating the local area and improving the street scene”.
It also argued it could spark investment in property in the vicinity and lead to a reduction in antisocial behaviour and vandalism in East Marsh Ward.
After the cabinet’s approval on Wednesday, the process is now moving onto identifying the renovation borrowing costs and weighing up with estimated savings once the hub is created.
Ward councillors will be involved in the process, and it will be reviewed at each stage to take into account any possible ballooning of costs.
Cllr Stephen Harness, portfolio holder for finance, resources and assets, said following the meeting: “As with a number of other projects j across North East Lincolnshire, we have already shown how we can work with partners to successfully restore some of our buildings and structures, often attracting grant funding and support to do so.
“I was delighted, for example, to see the recent result of continued work to restore the retail fronts and balconies along Alexandra Road in Cleethorpes. These projects can take a long time to plan, to arrange the funding and to execute but we are determined to do all we can to look at our options and support where possible, but we do so however being mindful of our overall council responsibilities with regard to the people of our borough and our priorities.”
Holme Hill is the oldest educational building in Grimsby, reported Cllr Harness at cabinet. It was built in 1876-78 by by Charles Bell of London, architect, and J M Thompson of Louth.
This was in the wake of the transformative 1870 Forster’s Education Act, which established the schooling of all children between the ages of five and 12 in England and Wales. It was set up for the Great Grimsby School Board to accommodate 1,165 children.
It was closed as a school in 1967 and has been vacant since 2014. Holme Hill was grade two listed in 1974 by English Heritage.