Major grant for Stewart Park

10th June 2008

Categories: Latest News

Stewart Park is gearing up for a major transformation with a £280,000 development grant from the National Lottery to back some exciting regeneration plans.

The go-ahead for the park to kick-start its scheme has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the Big Lottery Fund's £160 million 'Parks for People' initiative.

Middlesbrough Council will use the funding to further develop their £6.2 million scheme to transform and regenerate this much-loved park.

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Bob Kerr welcomed the announcement: "This is great news for the town and the 400,000 visitors every year who already use and enjoy Stewart Park.

"Our scheme aims to make major improvements to the lakes, paths and woodland areas. We also want to open up many of the Victorian estate buildings from the former Marton Hall. They are architecturally stunning and we aim to make them a real visitor attraction within the refurbished park. Thanks to investment from the lottery, we can now go ahead and develop these innovative plans further."

The council's parks and countryside manager, Jim Moody added: "This is the park's eightieth birthday and the announcement will really add some fizz to the celebrations. We can now start to develop our plans in detail, which will be the next stage in realising our ambitious vision for the future of the park.

"Stewart Park was gifted to the people of Middlesbrough and
so we will be working very closely over the next few years with local residents and community groups."

Councillor Tom Mawston, who chairs the Friends of StewartPark support group, said: "This is great news for the park and the Friends group is delighted. We have been closely involved in the lottery bid and look forward to working with the council and other partners to ensure that this wonderful park is brought back to its former glory. The park is well used by local residents and attracts visitors from around the world because of the Cook connection. This latest news keeps us on track for making Stewart Park an even bigger and better attraction."

Further Information

Visitmiddlesbrough visitor information - Stewart Park