Last piece of £19.9m Corby Towns Fund jigsaw falls into place
Krol Corlett has been appointed as main contractor for the redevelopment of Grosvenor House into a multi-purpose community-led facility, a project expected to take nine months.
Krol Corlett has this month begun the refurbishment of the space at Grosvenor House, one of a four-strong suite of projects North Northamptonshire Council were awarded funding for from central government in June 2021.
NNC was previously committed to contractually spending this ringfenced funding by the end of March 2026 – but, as has been seen with similar projects in other areas, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has reviewed the matter and extended the final deadline to March 2028.
According to the Corby Towns Fund website, the project was allocated £1.5m, covering the renovation of the ground and first floors.
The Corby Towns Fund allocation also covered the £9.5m conversion of Chisholm House into a sixth form college, an £8.6m link road to the railway station, and ‘Smart and Connected Corby’, which uses traffic and air quality monitoring sensors to better inform planning for the town’s expansion.
Grosvenor House will provide permanent new accommodation for a modern, cultural building with a community focus, as well as meeting the identified demand for creative, media and third sector use. It is also hoped that the facilities will increase footfall across the town centre.
A noted building in Corby’s heyday as a steel town, it was originally opened as the Strathclyde Hotel around 1960 and later hosted various nightclubs. The building then housed council offices for around a decade in the early 2000s.
Cllr Jan O’Hara, the council’s executive member for planning and economic growth, said: “We’re investing in a vibrant future for our town centre. This project will not only provide high-quality facilities but also help increase footfall in the town centre, supporting local businesses and residents.”
Mike Topping, senior contracts manager at Merseyside-headquartered Krol Corlett, said: “We’re delighted to be on board for such a key project for the people of Corby. Our aim is always to maximise the social value of our work so that its impact is felt as widely as possible, and so we have engaged with Corby’s excellent local supply chain as well as employing local labour.
“The job will benefit from our wide experience managing live sites, where we carefully work around other building users and neighbours. Considering the needs of all stakeholders is a key part of how we work.”
NNC said it continues to look at options for the operation of the building and are committed to finding the right organisations to deliver the offer to the public.
