The Harris has been awarded more than £800k for repairs and maintenance works

The Harris and looking towards the Town Hall in Preston city centre Pic: Tony Worrall

Preston City Council has accepted an award from Arts Council England’s Museum Estate Fund (MEND) as part of the project to improve the Harris.

The grant of £803,249 has come into effect and is going towards urgent masonry repairs to the external elevations of the museum building.

The grant will come through a series of instalments and includes; works on cornice/dentals, repointing of stonework, masonry cleaning, removal of iron and steel fixings, removal of redundant fixings, bird protection works and additional cleaning necessary.

Any unspent grant or remaining funding will need to be returned by 31 July 2024.

The previous £10.002m Heritage Fund did include light touch works to the external elevations to the tune of £97k, but more funding was needed. As such in October 2021 the council submitted a bid to MEND.

The Grant Acceptance report said: “The Re-Imagining Project will bring a major cultural capital project to Preston. This will underpin the development of the Harris into both a leading cultural attraction in North West England and an important cultural, learning, and social resource for the city’s communities.”

“The reasons for decision of this funding was to improve cultural wealth in the city, the report said: “Re-Imagining the Harris will deliver a significant range of benefits to Preston.

“The Harris will support cultural tourism for the city through a significant programme of events. Local communities will benefit significantly from the cultural engagement that the Harris will offer.

“This is a transformational project and one that is plays a significant part in the growth of the city.”