£30 million bid to fix Blackpool's colonnades with the town on UK City of Culture longlist

Image: Blackpool Council.

Blackpool Council has been invited by the Department for Transport’s £1bn Structures Fund to submit plans to repair and refurbish the historic Grade II listed North Promenade colonnades between the Metropole Hotel and Gynn Square.

Almost one kilometre in length, the colonnades include three sections: Lower Walk at Gynn Square Crescent, Middle Walk from Warley Road to Pleasant Street and Princess Parade by the Metropole. 

Built between 1910 and 1925, they remain a much-loved part of Blackpool’s tiered seafront. However, like much of Blackpool’s built heritage, the colonnades are over 100 years old and in serious need of repair.

Over the last few years, some entrances to the colonnades have had to close for safety reasons, however earlier this year work was completed to safely reopen three of the five entrances. 

The estimated cost to repair and replace the entire length in a like for like design is estimated to be around £35m. This cost is over ten times the average highways budget given to the council by the government every year, meaning additional funding is needed to complete the repairs.

Lower Walk and Middle Walk sit within the North Promenade Conservation Area and are treated as Grade II listed heritage assets, reflecting their special architectural and historic interest.

The council submitted its interest in bidding for between £22.5m and £31.5m from the Structures Fund last month and has now been asked to submit a formal bid with detailed plans. 

If the bid is accepted, the council would also contribute towards the remaining funding gap with work expected to be completed by 2030.

The Leader of Blackpool Council, Cllr Lynn Williams recently joined Future Cities Forum's 'Cultural Cities' discussion event, hosted by Historic Royal Palaces at the Tower of London. She was asked whether with investment in the town including that from the V&A Museums to create a new museum 'Show Time', did Blackpool really need to be on the short list for the UK City of Culture 2029:

Lynn said:

'Yes, we need to be on the shortlist, we need to win it. And I think for us it's really important. Right from the start it's been about entertainment and it's culture, it's not just in a museum, it's not just in a gallery, it's about our people, it's about regeneration and that's incredibly important to us, particularly for our young people, and especially our perception, how others see Blackpool, but most importantly how the people of Blackpool see ourselves, and that's why I think there's the culture aspect.

'I think those things that tend to have mass popularity, like laughter, entertainment, magic, dance, all of those things, that somehow seem maybe a bit less worthy. And for Blackpool, it's been at the heart of entertainment in this country for over a century. And we want to celebrate that, and the people, and we're really proud of that history, but we're also really excited about how we build on that and into the future, and that, for us, is what we celebrate as people of Blackpool.'

With the 150th Blackpool Illuminations coming up, Lynn was asked whether it was place-making in the town that has been and will continue to be important:

'Yes, absolutely, massive. I think the Illuminations, but also for Blackpool wherever I go, everybody has a Blackpool story, whether it's going there as a child, their parents met there, their grandparents met there. Because it has been so important to so many people, generations across the country. The Illuminations are really special, it's the biggest free light show. and we're really proud that we invested early on in LED. It's now 95% LED lights. So over the last 20-odd years, we've reduced the electricity bill by about 80%. And most of the cost of the illumination is actually in maintaining and staffing costs.

'So, you know, we're really proud to be working contemporary artists, designers, but also with Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen, and this year we've got Toya, of all people, designing. So it's about celebrating, as I said before, about celebrating what we do well and the history of all of that in Blackpool but it's also about the future and building on that and making that exciting to attract new people and particularly interactive and using technology.

Blackpool Council had been told that to get on the shortlist for the City of Culture 2029, it had to be authentic and Lynn commented:

'Absolutely, Blackpool is a bit bonkers, I know that, but we can't be anything other than we are, and we're really proud of that, we're really proud of being the seaside resort, but Blackpool is also far more than that, and it's so exciting.'

Blackpool Council has said it has been delighted to announce that The National Gallery, London has selected Grundy Art Gallery to be one of four museums and galleries from across the country to take part in the prestigious The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2025-27.

The National Gallery’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil by Monet has been displayed at Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery from this Spring through to the middle of June. Blackpool was chosen as one of four locations from over 30 museum and galleries that submitted an application to be part of The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour 2025-27.

This project will also see Grundy Art Gallery host other artworks in the future of art historical and art world significance from The National Gallery Collection.

Visit Blackpool describes the painting:

'The work selected for the first year is Monet's The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil (1872), a work which has left the Gallery only once in the last 20 years. Monet depicts a tranquil scene of a winter day on the outskirts of the small suburban town of Argenteuil, not far from Paris. Although the town was already partly industrialised and a popular location for sailing and leisure boating, Monet only hints at this developing bustle with a few scattered buildings behind a screen of trees. Instead, he focuses on an intimate moment by the river. The orderly composition, variety of brushstrokes and reflection in the water are all regular features of Monet's work.'

Image Credit: Claude Monet (1840-1926), The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil, 1872. Oil on canvas © The National Gallery, London