Council seeks extra £13.5m to save Winter Gardens

Millions of pounds of funding are still needed for a major restoration project of the UK's last surviving seafront Victorian glasshouse due to rising costs, a council has said.

The Winter Gardens in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which closed in 2008, is on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register due to its deteriorating condition.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has already secured £21.2m for the works, but exploratory works have revealed a further £13.5m was still needed.

Council leader Carl Smith said: "The Winter Gardens means so much to local people and the building is of key national significance. We are determined to do all we can to see the restoration completed."

Smith said the costs had "increased substantially" since plans were drawn up and building work had to be completed in line with heritage bodies.

Without new lottery or Historic England funding, the council said work could not go ahead and it would have to consider steps to manage the building.

Originally built in Torquay between 1878 and 1881, the building was transported and reassembled in Norfolk in 1904.

Work on the site began last autumn, however exploratory works identified the Grade II-listed cast iron structure required more work than anticipated as it needed restoring to the original frame and century-old sewage pipes also had to be replaced.

If approved at a full council meeting on Thursday, a new funding plan would include applying for an extra £4.6m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, £1m from Historic England, a £2.9m council capital contribution, £2.5m in Arts Council England grants, as well as fundraising.

It had considered options including seeking a new contractor, redesigning and reducing the scope of the project, mothballing plans or dismantling and storing the building, however none of these have been deemed viable.

The seaside town is currently vying to be crowned the UK's first Town of Culture in 2028.

In July, Smith said he had hoped the Winter Gardens would reopen at the end of 2028.

The Conservative council leader said: "Everyone wants to see the Winter Gardens once again be a key addition to the town's seafront, rather than be preserved as a closed historic structure.

"But to realise that dream we now need to find additional finance - something the council can't provide.

"We have a compelling case to be the country's first Town of Culture in 2028 and making sure our plans for the Winter Gardens are right for the community, and the future is more crucial than ever."

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