Blackpool Council to bid for £30m to restore colonnades
Blackpool Council is submitting a government bid for around £30 million to repair and refurbish the historic North Promenade colonnades.
The council has been invited by the Department for Transport’s £1 billion Structures Fund to submit detailed plans for the Grade II listed colonnades, which run between the Metropole Hotel and Gynn Square.
The structures are almost one kilometre long and form part of Blackpool’s tiered seafront.
They include three sections: Lower Walk at Gynn Square Crescent, Middle Walk from Warley Road to Pleasant Street, and Princess Parade by the Metropole.
Built between 1910 and 1925, the colonnades are now more than 100 years old and in need of significant repair.
Over recent years, some entrances have had to close for safety reasons. Earlier this year, work was completed to safely reopen three of the five entrances.
Council says extra funding is needed
The estimated cost to repair and replace the full length of the colonnades in a like-for-like design is around £35 million.
Blackpool Council says this is more than ten times the average annual highways budget it receives from government, meaning additional funding is needed to carry out the work.
The council submitted its interest in bidding for between £22.5 million and £31.5 million from the Structures Fund last month and has now been asked to submit a formal bid with detailed plans.
If the bid is successful, the council would also contribute towards the remaining funding gap.
Work would be expected to be completed by 2030.
‘Part of our built heritage’
Councillor Jane Hugo, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, said the colonnades are an important part of the town’s seafront and heritage.
She said: “Our famous colonnades are hugely important – they are part of our built heritage. Residents and visitors use the area to walk, stay active and enjoy life living on our beautiful coastline.
“We’ve been working on a plan to restore the colonnades back to their former glory. That’s not cheap.
“To afford the level of repairs the colonnades deserve, we would have to go without any road repairs for over ten years.
“That’s why we’re submitting to government our urgent need for extra funding so we can restore them.
“While we work on the funding bid, we’re not standing still. We’ve carried out some temporary repairs to open more entrances this spring, without risking people’s safety.”
Historic seafront structures
Lower Walk and Middle Walk sit within the North Promenade Conservation Area and are treated as Grade II listed heritage assets.
The council says this reflects their special architectural and historic interest.