Dudley Plaza Mall and Fountain Arcade to get facelift
Dudley town centre’s incredible programme of regeneration continues at pace, with lottery funded works now set to run until the end of next year.
The Townscape Heritage Programme is funded through the National Lottery Heritage fund and offers grant assistance to carry our repair, reinstatement and refurbishment works to historic buildings.
Dudley Council received £2.8 million of investment for the town during phase one of the programme. Phase two will now see a further £1.5 million of funding, including £1.2 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with an extension granted due to delays caused by the pandemic
Work is underway at Plaza Mall, a former Woolworth’s building dating from 1935, and at the Fountain Arcade. The work to Plaza Mall will see original tiles being revealed, repaired and restored, windows reinstated to their historic form and the shopfront being enhanced. The Fountain Arcade will see repairs to the stonework, brickwork and windows, as well as new shopfronts. The buildings will have scaffolding to the exterior during works, but businesses remain open as normal.
Work is also taking place at historic properties on Wolverhampton Street, including 204a Wolverhampton Street, where scaffolding has been erected and work is well underway. This will restore and enhance the historic buildings while adding to attractiveness of the town centre for visitors.
Businesses remain open as usual.
Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for economic regeneration, said:
Dudley Council’s regeneration programme is seeing over £1billion of investment across our borough and we are making excellent progress in rejuvenating Dudley town centre.
The Townscape Heritage Programme is injecting an additional £1.5 million public funding into the town and it will help us to preserve and enhance some of our most significant buildings.
The pandemic has naturally caused delays to some of the phase two works, but we are continuing at pace and we look forward to completing the phase two programme at the end of next year.
Activities also play a part in the project, including participation in annual Heritage Open Days, production of heritage, geological and art trails and educational resources.
Dudley Council is working with partners and volunteers to record the memories of people who have grown up and lived in Dudley under the ‘Growing up in Dudley’ initiative and to produce artistic material inspired by Dudley’s rich heritage.
More information is online at www.dudleypeoplesarchive.com/growing-up-in-dudley