Work to re-start on park project delayed by failure of company

ONE of the final pieces of a £4.5m park restoration project which hit trouble after a building contractor fell victim to the recession could be completed by the end of the year.

Several phases of the Lottery-funded facelift of Clifton Park, close to Rotherham town centre, are complete, but plans for a "garden building" had to be put on hold.

The scheme was thrown into uncertainty at the end of 2009 when the firm which signed a contract with Rotherham Council to provide the building went into administration.

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Now a local building firm, George Hurst and Sons, has been successful in bidding to complete the project, which will include a traditional walled garden and courtyard.

The garden building will contain a new bowls pavilion, space for rangers and gardeners, toilets, and a multi-purpose room for events and activities, school groups and public hire.

Council officers said the walled garden would be an "oasis of calm" where apprentices would work to recreate the colours and smells of a traditional kitchen and flower garden.

Rotherham Council's green spaces manager, Phil Gill, said

yesterday: "Everyone involved in the project is really looking forward to the opening of this excellent new facility. The park already has a lot to offer, but the garden building and walled garden will open up important new opportunities to involve local people and to run new activities."

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Mr Gill said the building was designed to be environmentally-friendly, with a green roof which includes plants which soak up rainwater, solar panels and a biomass boiler.

Drawings show that it combines a contemporary design with traditional materials, including bricks and natural stone, that fit in well with the historic museum a short distance away.

The Friends of Clifton Park, a voluntary group which was set up to call for improvements, said it was delighted that one of the final pieces in the restoration jigsaw would be in place.

Extra fundraising by the group has helped to pay for the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Walker Sundial and the creation of a new mosaic, both of which will be placed in the completed walled garden.

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Friends spokesman Elaine Humphries, said: "We are already making plans for events in the new building. I am proud of the involvement our group has had in this project, and I am sure Rotherham people will be as delighted as we are when they can see the facility for themselves."

Clifton Park already has a new water play area, a refurbished

bandstand, memorial garden and rock garden, and the Lottery grant has allowed gardeners to improve displays.

It is expected that work on the garden building will be complete by the end of November.

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News of the completion of the building at Clifton Park follows an announcement by Rotherham Council that it was unable to finish another park project in the town.

The Friends of Boston Castle had hoped to convert the former hunting lodge, which stands in Boston Park overlooking the Don Valley, into a visitor and education centre.

A campaign was first started in 2001 to restore the building which has been badly vandalised, and the Heritage Lottery Fund announced last year that it would commit 600,000 to the scheme.

But the rest of the cash for the 1.7m project was from Rotherham

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Council and last month cultural services spokesman Iain St John said the plans would be downgraded to save money.

It is thought a "revised" scheme will still go ahead at the Grade II listed building, but on a much smaller scale than originally anticipated.