Full steam ahead for £2.4million Caistor heritage building project

The upper floor will become a community space

It is now full steam ahead for the £2.4million project to bring 2-4 Market Place – the Old Co-op - back to life.

Thanks to the community investing nearly £100,000 in community shares and the award of the Government Community Ownership Fund Grant from the Department of Levelling Up, Caistor and District Community Trust has announced preparation work can begin, with a view to construction work on the Old Co-op starting by next summer.

Trust chairman Neil Castle said: “Thank you to all our funders.

Lots of people took advantage of the hard hat tours to get a feel of what the buildings could become

“A huge thanks to all those members of the Caistor community who have invested in community shares.

“They, along with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Architectural Heritage Fund, the support of Caistor Town Council, have all got us where we are today.

“After 12 long years, we are finally going to see this row of south facing buildings of our market place restored for the benefit of our community.”

The scheme for Caistor’s 2-4 Market Place includes retail units, a community space, holiday lets and office/craft workshop spaces.

Recently, hard hat tours have been offered of the rabbit-warren of buildings that make up the project site to help people understand the scale of the project and see some of the investigative work that has already been going on behind closed doors.

These proved very popular and gave those taking the tours a fuller understanding of the work involved and allowed them to see some of the heritage aspects the project hopes to retain.

Trustees Paul Kirkby and Steve Critten led the tours.

Paul said: “We need to show the community is behind the project if we want it to succeed and these tours, together with the share investment, has shown this.”

One of those taking part was Christine Jeavons, who was surprised at the extent of the buildings.

She said: “It was great to be able to go round and get a better understanding of the buildings.

“To have such a place for Caistor is wonderful and I am looking forward to seeing the work get underway.

“It will be lovely to see it all brought back to life.”

The project to renovate and restore the buildings that have lain empty for more than a decade began in 2016 when discussions with the community and key stakeholders began.

With the help of Heritage Lincolnshire, a local charity that supports our county’s heritage, a series of public consultation events were delivered and with the community’s help a vision for the buildings, with a broad mixed use, began to be formed.

Caistor and District Community Trust Ltd was registered in July 2018 with the aim of improving the physical, social and economic infrastructure of Caistor, as well as the surrounding district.

While the funding is now in place for the 2-4 Market Place, the share option remains open until January 31.

Neil Castle said: “If people would still like to invest, we can use their funds, as there will be further enhancements as the project progresses.”

Full details at www.caistor communitytrust.org