National Lottery puts Walsall on track for park transformation
Date Published : 08 May 2008
The National Lottery has today announced that Walsall Arboretum is on track for a major transformation with a £220,000 development grant to back their exciting regeneration plans.
The go-ahead for the borough’s flagship park to kick-start its scheme has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund’s £160 million ‘Parks for People’ initiative.*
Walsall Council will use the funding to further develop an £8 million scheme to transform and regenerate this much-loved park.
Councillor Louise Harrison, Portfolio Holder for Leisure Culture and Lifelong Learning, welcomed the announcement: “Obviously we’re delighted that our bid has been approved and can take our plans several steps forward for what is an exciting time for everyone who visits and has an interest in Walsall Arboretum. Thanks to investment from the Lottery, we can now go ahead and develop these innovative plans further.”
The project will embrace the restoration of the landscape and buildings, including:
- The construction of a flagship visitor centre at the Centre Green which will house a café, meeting room, education classroom, public toilets, reception area, accommodation for staff and changing rooms;
- A new youth play facility next to the children’s play area
- Restoration of the Grade II listed boathouse to be used by the council’s watersports activity team for boat storage and launching;
- Restoration of the bandstand and terraced seating area;
- Conversion of a former cafeteria building into a clubhouse for Walsall Ladies Bowling Club;
- Conversion of the Lakeside café building;
- Improvements to the landscape and entrances, repairs to the park boundaries and footpaths as well as park benches.
Preparation work for the park’s development is now underway and the go ahead from the two lottery funds now means the council can appoint a project manager who will oversee the restoration programme.
The restoration programme will take shape between 2009 and 2012 with the aim of restoring the historic core of the park and bring it into the 21st century.
For more information please visit our Walsall Arboretum National Lottery trasformation page