Shropshire Star

Work under way on Shrewsbury Flax Mill restoration

Initial work on rejuvenating and renovating Shrewsbury's historic Flax Mill Maltings has begun.

Published
The Flax Mill in Shrewsbury

English Heritage has awarded the contract to demolish the redundant south silo to Erith Contractors Ltd and workers moved on to the site yesterday.

The work is being funded by a grant from the European Regional Development Fund.

The project, which will open up the site for future development, will be completed by the end of January 2015.

Before demolition work can begin, the entire silo will be shrouded in scaffolding and a protective sheeting to prevent debris falling.

Workers will carefully deconstruct the silo in small pieces, so that the historic main mill is not endangered.

Specialist vibration monitoring equipment has been installed to ensure the historic buildings are secure throughout.

Chris Smith, Director of Heritage Protection and Planning at English Heritage, said: "This is really good news. We are glad to be able to take another step forward on the road to the regeneration of the whole site."

Alan Mosley, chair of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings and leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, said: "We are delighted that the work is under way and want to congratulate English Heritage on achieving this. We look forward to completion of the demolition and then the start of renovation of the Office and Stables building to create a visitor centre for our work, including reception, interpretation, learning, research and displays."

Mark Jack, of Erith Contractors Ltd, said: "Erith are proud to be part of such an iconic redevelopment scheme which involves the demolition of such a widely recognised landmark. As well as being a project of intricacy the demolition is a crucial catalyst in restoring our English heritage."

Procedures have been put in place to reduce the noise and dust that the work will cause, and will be confining as much of the movement of materials to the site itself. Contractors are also limiting lorry movements into and out of the site as much as possible.

A funding package of £2.6m was awarded earlier this month to stage one of the Shrewsbury Flax Mill Maltings project to kick start regeneration.

The Department for Communities and Local Government awarded funding through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the maximum amount of funding requested by English Heritage – £1,169,226. English Heritage has provided the balance of the funds.

Stage one will comprise of the conversion of the office and stables for use by the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings as a visitor and reception centre and the demolition of the 1950s silo, providing further external space for cultural, interpretation and public use.

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