PLANS to spend £800,000 renovating a historic recreation area are set to take a big step forward.
South Derbyshire District Council’s housing and community services committee will be asked to accept a £550,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to breathe new life into Eureka Park, in Swadlincote.
Members will also be asked to back a request to start work on the five-year project and to approve the recruitment of a community engagement officer to help deliver it.
The meeting will be held almost two months after committee chairman John Lemmon said the grant offer was ‘a wonderful early Christmas present for park users and the people of South Derbyshire, and the green light for our exciting plans’.
A report to Thursday’s session by Mark Alflat, the authority’s director of operations, says: “The project is to restore and repair the heritage features of Eureka Park and deliver a community engagement programme to explore and celebrate the development of the park and its significance in local culture.
“This project will restore the historic elements of the park by delivering the heritage aspects of (our) masterplan.
“Alongside the physical restoration work, there will be a supporting community programme to rediscover the ‘invisible heritage’ of the park.”
The ‘invisible heritage’ is ‘that which has been lost over time and relates to the social history of the area’.
A key aim will be to increase the visitor range.
