The Ramsgate Society together with The Ramsgate Heritage Regeneration Trust continue to hold regular meetings and work closely with the TDC Project Team to bring this scheme to fruition.
Some £2.8million has been allocated from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund for works to the fabric of the Clock House and to transform Pier Yard into a town square. An application to the Heritage Lottery Fund has also been made for a grant of some £3.8million to transform the inside of the building in order to create a modern heritage centre for Ramsgate. A decision on this application will be announced on 6th December.
Meanwhile a great deal of preparation work is going on including a condition survey of the external stonework to the building which is in very poor condition. This specialist survey was carried out on 6th October and the recommendations will be used to inform the restoration work.
On 9th October members of the Ramsgate Society and the Ramsgate Heritage Regeneration Trust, together with project architects Curl La Tourelle Head, visited the Ditchling Arts and Crafts Museum in East Sussex on a fact-finding mission. The museum is an excellent example of how a Listed Building can be successfully enlarged and extended using modern architectural forms. We were given a tour of the museum by their Director Steph Fuller and learnt a great deal about the running of a successful museum which we will be able to incorporate into our thinking.
We will provide a further update when we get the result of our current HLF Grant Application.
John Walker