Blackpool pub gets helping hand with upgrade project

The refurbishment of the Cedar Tavern in Cedar Square is among the latest projects to receive a grant from the £2.3m Property Improvement Fund (PIF).

A £125,000 scheme includes the installation of new windows, extensive external facade repairs and restoration of the roof.

The PIF has so far seen around 20 properties upgraded on Topping Street, Church Street, Talbot Road, Cedar Square, Deansgate and Edward Street.

Another 22 properties are earmarked for refurbishment as part of the scheme.

A planning application for work at the Cedar Tavern, which was approved in January 2019, included a roof extension to form a rooftop seating area giving customers views over the town centre.

A design statement, which accompanied the planning application, said it was “proposed to restore and refurbish the faience, where parts of the facade have been damaged over time by impact and other intervention such as signage, plastic plants and lighting.”

The building, which dates back to the 1930s and was originally used as an insurance centre, is locally listed and sits within the town centre conservation area.

Other prominent town centre buildings to benefit from the Property Improvement Fund, which was set up in 2018, include the former Clifton Hotel – now operating as an Ibis – in Talbot Square.

The fund has contributed £178,300 towards a £400,000 project to repair external facades.

Only businesses on certain streets were eligible for a share of the funding, provided mainly by the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Growth Deal Fund, and aimed at making parts of the town centre more attractive to shoppers, residents and investors.

It is part of the wider Quality Corridors project which includes improving roads leading into the town centre, and extending the tramway up Talbot Road to North Station.

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