A huge multi million-pound project that will transform a Wirral seaside town's high street is set to create 140 jobs and open next year.
A group looking to regenerate Hoylake town hall received a government grant of £3.64m and will now set about creating an "arts village" containing a two-screen cinema, restaurant, bar, café bistro as well as creative studios, apartments and retail spaces.
It's called the Beacon Arts Village project, and has been dreamt up by Hoylake Village Life Community Interest Company and site owners Hylgar Properties.
They believe it will "reimagine" the town's high street, which has in recent years fallen on "harder times".
According to the group in charge, the project will create more than 140 jobs during design, construction and operation, and is set to open to the public in October 2020.
Mark Howard, Hoylake Village Life volunteer and founder of the community cinema, said: “We’ve done a huge amount of public consultation; from this and from the overwhelmingly positive feedback to the planning application it’s clear that many people feel this is exactly the kind of development Hoylake needs.
"To stay alive, a town needs to keep up a process of continual change and sustainable redevelopment and this project is an exemplar of that.
“It’s superbly located adjacent to the train station and sits on a high street that needs greater animation and footfall and we believe this will increase Hoylake’s attraction for visitors, as well as create scores of jobs and future collaboration opportunities.”
The building, first opened in 1898, is currently home to the monthly ‘pop-up’ Hoylake Community Cinema, as well as a number of small creative enterprises, including BAFTA award winning film production company, Mad as Birds, and a Wirral Chamber of Commerce satellite office.
The grant has been awarded from the Coastal Communities Fund, by the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, designed to help coastal communities flourish and strengthen their appeal as places to live, work and visit.
Hylgar Properties has said it will deliver a new build housing the 18 studio/retail spaces, with the upper floors of the development to be converted into 40 apartments using private funding.
Mr Howard added: “Hoylake has a burgeoning reputation as a cultural hub and we believe that the Arts is the key to the on-going sustainable regeneration of the town. The Beacon Arts Village will be a wonderful addition to a creative community that in recent years has seen so many great initiatives breathe new life into the town such as the annual Festival of Firsts; Hoylake’s magnificent Seasonal and Christmas lights displays, Wirral Open Studios, Hoylake Live!, Hoylake and Meols in Bloom and ‘Incredible Edible’."
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Work is expected to start by October this year, with a contractor appointed after July.
The group say negotiations with a cinema operator, food and beverage operators are on-going, with a series of appointments expected to be made in the next three months. Project managers for the site are Walker Sime.
Hylgar's David Burke said: “Part of the thrust of the project is about business and job creation and to create a great working environment which in turn we hope will bring added benefits to the rest of the town by helping to keep Hoylake’s offer fresh and new.
“This has underpinned our successful bid, but ultimately it has been about having the confidence to realise our ambition and the support of the community has been crucial in bringing this project forward - it has truly been a collaborative effort.
“We are convinced that the Beacon Arts Village will be a major anchor for further economic development and regeneration in Hoylake which will attract further investment and provide greater numbers of jobs and opportunities for young people.”
