£400k awarded to The Generator CIC in Loughborough from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme

• The Generator CIC in Loughborough to benefit from a share of £24.2 million through Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme.
• “We will use this Capital Investment Programme award to create an inclusive Cultural Centre for creatives, arts organisations and the community.”
  
• Awards from Arts Council England’s Capital Investment Programme go towards building works and the purchase of equipment and other assets to improve access, seize on technological opportunities and reduce environmental impact.
  

8 May, 2024. Loughborough regeneration project - The Generator - will receive £400k from Arts Council England, thanks to its Government-funded Capital Investment Programme, as announced today.

David Pagett-Wright, chair of the Generator CIC which is leading the restoration, described the benefits the new venue will bring to a range of people in the region:

“The 1930s Generator Hall will become an inclusive Cultural Centre for creatives, arts organisations and the community with a programme of workshops, arts events, exhibitions, music, spoken word, comedy and other performances serving the diverse communities of Loughborough.

“Work will include new infrastructure with sound, lighting and audio-visual equipment allowing digital and streaming events.

 “We will collaborate with creatives, arts organisations and the wider community, focus on high quality events, accessibility and sustainability, and promote creativity, diversity and environmental awareness. We will run events, programmes, exhibitions, and initiatives that celebrate the richness of diversity and encourage dialogue, understanding and connection.”

This announcement comes just weeks after the Generator CIC confirmed that builders were finally starting renovation work this April, following another significant funding breakthrough just before Christmas 2023.

“With the building work already in motion to achieve an opening in Spring 2025, this funding will let us realise even more of our goals, providing high quality creative and cultural experiences for people in Loughborough, Leicestershire and beyond,” added Mr Pagett-Wright. 

The Capital Investment Programme supports the Arts Council’s mission to ensure communities across the country have the infrastructure where creativity for everyone can thrive.

Darren Henley, chief executive, Arts Council England said: “This infrastructure investment will help a whole range of different cultural organisations across England to flourish, increasing opportunities for people to enjoy creatively excellent cultural events close to where they live. It’s particularly important that we’re making this happen in communities where cultural investment has historically been low”.

The Generator CIC, a community interest company managed by volunteers, has been working hard for several years to transform the sizable 1930s Generator Hall on Packe Street. The project will keep the industrial feel of the space, which many people will know as part of the Old Art College, while creating a large-capacity, multi-purpose cultural centre for the town, where people can enjoy all creative arts.

THE RENOVATION

The work will see the full renovation of the existing building including vital structural work to the roof and basement, the installation of a new mezzanine, stairs and lift, loos, the doors, windows and floor.

Other work includes sound and heat insulation, sound and projection equipment, as well as specialist lights and other kit, plus secondary glazing. The project will also install a bar.

To keep the public informed, the CIC will keep a full record of all works, before, during and after, and also keep information board updated to show where things are in the timeline of building activities.

The funding in detail

This latest award from Arts Council England adds £400k to the Generator’s funds, which enables the project to bring forward vital elements to improve the functionality of the venue.

CIC director Andy Harper added: “Final fitting out, furniture and equipment will depend on sponsorship and probably yet more fundraising, but we know that with the funding we have we can carry out all the main works, meaning the venue will be open and in use. We see this as our core objective."

And it has been a long journey to reach this point. The project’s earliest meetings were in 2014; The Generator Loughborough Community Interest Company (CIC) was formalised in June 2015.

Fundraising by the CIC, from 2015 onwards, secured £1.6m from the Town Deal, as well as significant contributions from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Arts Council England Project Grant, Charnwood Borough Council, and the successful 2023 Crowdfunder (with match funding from the Architectural Heritage Fund).

A challenging tendering process in summer 2023 confirmed the Generator needed £2.5m to deliver Stage 1 to renovate and convert the space into a multi-purpose cultural centre.

The project’s application for £700k funding from the Community Ownership Fund (funded by UK Government / Powered by Levelling Up) came good just before Christmas on Friday 22nd December 2023, which enabled the building work to start this April.

Plans to open Spring 2025

Messenger Construction Limited (the chosen building contractor who have worked on Taylor’s Bell Foundry, another historic Loughborough site) are doing the work, with a start on site in April this year with an 11-month contract period.

The Generator CIC aims to open the venue in Spring 2025 and invites anyone wanting to closely follow the renovation, and hear other news (such as job opportunities and opening events) to follow @GeneratorLboro on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

People can also visit the website generatorloughborough.com and sign up to a newsletter. 

Work already undertaken: enabling work and 1930s tile salvage

Significant preliminary work has already been carried out. Specialist teams have removed asbestos and lead paint, and there’s also been the ‘soft strip’, where the building has been stripped back to its core. This revealed the original black and white tiles of the 1930s, hidden under floor panels for decades.

A team of volunteers has gone in and saved around 300 of the original tiles, after a weekend of hard work in January 2024. The salvaged tiles will make a wall display.

The volunteers also rescued many of the drain covers embossed with “Loughborough College” (that may have been made by the original College students).

The building’s history

The Generator Hall is part of a sizable industrial building that stretches from Frederick Street to Packe street, a 1930s construction in the centre of town, formerly owned by Loughborough University. This site has a proud history as part of the former Technical College and College of Art.

Famously, the Generator Hall originally housed engines and other equipment salvaged from WW1 German U-boats that generated electricity for the college, hence the name of the restoration project.

Many people have studied there since the building started life as the Technical College training the apprentices of many local firms: Brush Electrical Engineering, Herbert Morris, Bentley Engineering, William Cotton & Towles. Encouraged by Herbert Schofield, a pioneer in the development of Further Education, many local employers donated equipment to the college so that apprentices learned their trade using the most up-to-date equipment based on real-life work experience.

The prestigious Loughborough University - renowned worldwide for its excellence in sport, engineering and research - has its origins in the building and the Technical Institute that began in 1909.

CIC director Jill Vincent added: “As part of the project, the stories of these people and organisations will be brought to life through the Generator’s Heritage and History website. Here the project will digitise, preserve and promote the town’s heritage telling local stories that might otherwise be lost. So it’s going to be an archive of the social history of the town, as well as a place of creativity and new experiences.”