Stationhouse set for new lease of life as art space
A BEACON of creativity is soon to light up this old station building under the people power of a tireless community campaign.
The Station Building at Mytholmroyd, with nearly £300,000 in grant funding secured, is to be transformed into space for local artists, with a “warm place” for community groups.
It's taken 17 years, with success now testament to the efforts of community volunteers. Among them, Sue and Geoff Mitchell, who are delighted to see the village reap the rewards.
“We’ve been working on this day and night, almost, for years now,” said Mrs Mitchell. “Everybody is on the same side – you can just feel it.
“It’s such a privilege to be doing something that people want,” she added. “It’s for future generations, and improving things for the whole of the community.”
The Grade ll listed building, built a century and a half ago on the Normanton line, was once bustling, with its booking hall, ticket office, and spiral stone staircase. It has stood empty and derelict for some 40 years, targeted by vandals and ravaged by floods.
Back in 2006 a community meeting was called about the area outside, looking bedraggled and unloved. Some 60 people turned up. Sue blames Geoff: “It’s all his fault,” she laughed.
Volunteers were to restore the gardens, winning a Queen’s Award, and then again in 2016 they fought to see the building’s restoration brought under its franchise agreement. Network Rail contractors took on structural renovations, before effectively ‘gifting’ the building to the village, on a 25-year peppercorn lease – so long as it was for community use.
Northern now operates the station, and it helped volunteers submit bids to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) for for a grant of £293,193.
The first step is the essentials, for heating, electricity and water. The hope then is for the ground floor to go to community use, with the upper two featuring local artists’ studios. Work must be completed within the year, and volunteers are frantically busy. All the work will be worth it, they said, to see this Victorian building at the heart of its community once more.
Mr Mitchell, chairman, said space on all three floors will be rented out to locals: “We are delighted to have secured this funding from the Government after years of hard work.
“The building has become a sad sight since it was closed and boarded up, so we can’t wait to complete the renovation and reopen it for the people of Mytholmroyd.”
There is a team of eight trustees on the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) partnership, and members are keen to hear from anybody who may like to get involved – particularly if they have website or social media experience. To find out more contact communityhub. myt@btinternet.com.