Page Park’s new community building and café hailed a great success.
Page Park's new community building and café is now open and has been hailed a great success. This new modern facility provides a meeting place and focal point for the many people who use the park, and features a heritage wall mural by a local artist which celebrates the history of the Park. Page Park has recently been awarded the 2018 LABC West of England Building Excellence Award for Best Public Service Building.
Community involvement has played a key role
The community room can be hired out for a variety of uses and the Café area is proving popular. Cutting the ribbon to officially unveil the building, Chair of South Gloucestershire Council Cllr Ian Blair said, “The most important part of this project is the community involvement. This park is always full of people enjoying a good day out and this new building will only add to that. It will breathe new life in to Page Park and I am sure visitors will make good use of the indoor space and enjoy it for many years to come.”
Sarah Staniforth from the Heritage Lottery Fund said: “Page Park is for everyone and is the ‘green lung’ of Staple Hill. The work that has gone into understanding the community and involving them at every stage will ensure this place has a sustainable future. The emphasis has very much been on the community and that is why this project did so well in the application process for an HLF grant.”
Stephanie Purser, from the Friends of Page Park, said, “Our green spaces are priceless and there is still so much more Page Park can offer. This is the next chapter in that story.”
Hookway assisted with heritage Lottery funding and cost management
The works were funded principally by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Cory Environmental Trust in Britain, South Gloucestershire Council and the Friends of Page Park, as well as through other donations. The new buildings are part of a wider £2.2million regeneration project which also includes the restoration of the park’s clock tower, repairs to railings, footpaths and walls, and a refurbishment of the tennis court.
Hookway undertook the Cost Management on the scheme, from assisting with the Heritage Lottery funding through to completion.