Returning Hall to former glory

Part of a £1.9million project, which also includes the restoration of the Coronation Street facade, the Spanish Hall restoration aims to open up the full space of the highly-decorated hall, to allow it to be more fully used.

The roof is being replaced with a similar style structure and system to the one in the Floral Hall, creating a lighter, brighter space in the upstairs suite of the complex.

Winter Gardens managing director Michael Williams said: “It’s amazing to be up close in the space of the Spanish Hall roof. The work to have the room repainted will also be going out to tender, and the whole project should be complete by the end of the year.”

Applying for planning permission to do the Spanish Hall works, Winter Gardens’ bosses wrote in papers: “The roof of the Spanish Hall is in poor condition.Repairs are required to preserve the historic interiors.

“Elements of the roof are at the end of their service life, even with attentive planned maintenance, elements are beginning to fail and in need of replacement.”

The scheme is well under way following the completion of repairs to the Empress Ballroom ceiling, which were launched as an emergency project after a panel of the plasterwork fell out overnight last September.

Following repairs to the ballroom’s plaster panelling, the room reopened in May for the Blackpool Dance Festival, although the ceiling will also need to be repainted.