Historic England is supporting the Grade II* Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust with £767,222 towards the repair of the Winter Gardens, known affectionately as ‘The People’s Palace’. Morecambe Winter Gardens is one of six successful projects awarded in the North West through the Heritage At Risk Capital Funds Scheme.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and led by Historic England, the fund will benefit projects in disadvantaged communities, creating jobs and community spaces with £15 million shared across 37 sites in England £2.4 million will be awarded to six historic places in the North West including Morecambe Winter Gardens, through the Morecambe Winter Gardens Preservation Trust, a volunteer led group who oversee the restoration of this iconic seaside landmark building.
Our restoration work at Morecambe Winter Gardens includes several critical upgrades and enhancements to the concert hall, including the construction of an extension featuring new toilets, accessible lifts and a fire escape.
Morecambe Winter Gardens bid was led and developed by Professor Vanessa Toulmin Chair of the Morecambe Winter Gardens Trust and Professor of Early Film and Popular Entertainment at the University of Sheffield. The Trust has worked tirelessly over the last five years to bring in over £5 Million of capital development funding to repair and restore the historic infrastructure of the Grade 2* listed theatre and this funding brings in crucial infrastructure repairs that are critical for future use of the building.
Stephen Anderson, Buttress director:
"We are proud to support Morecambe Winter Gardens in securing this new funding from Historic England. It represents another incredible milestone for the volunteers who have worked tirelessly over many years to ensure the building has a vibrant future."
Louise Brennan, Director of Regions at Historic England:
"Thanks to the extra funding from the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, we are able to breathe new life into neglected historic buildings in the North West that we haven’t been able to help through our existing grant schemes. This initiative will not only boost economic growth but also create amazing opportunities for people in some of the region’s most disadvantaged areas. We're thrilled to support projects that harness the power of heritage to make a real difference where it's needed most."
Professor Vanessa Toulmin, on behalf of the Winter Gardens Preservation Trust:
"We are delighted once again to secure funding for our beloved theatre and feel this is testament to the 1000s of hours spent by the trustees and the volunteers maintaining, fundraising and opening our doors every weekend for the benefit of Morecambe. We as a Trust now have raised over £5M in funding to restore the building of which each penny is invested back into the building to enable us to progress and every week the people of Morecambe and visitors to our resort can see the benefits. This funding award was especially significant as it was only through the intensive surveys and structural work completed through the Cultural Development Fund that the ongoing issues to the structure were discovered and this funding secures a long-term future for aspects of the circle and future developments into the Gods."