A small section of the historic Cricket Pavilion building that was formerly used as the umpire’s office is being refurbished, reports Marco Marcelline
The council is starting works to refurbish West Pavilion at Leyton Sports Ground today (3rd August).
The West Pavilion is a small section of the historic Cricket Pavilion building that was formerly used as the umpire’s office.
In a newsletter update shared with residents on Friday (31st July), Waltham Forest Council said the improvements are being funded by a “small allocation” of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) money.
The rest of the project is still not fully funded, though the council has secured planning permission and listed building consent for the refurbishment works, which were developed and consulted on with the local community in 2023.
Once complete this space will temporarily be used as a rest area for sports ground users during halftime breaks, while also “having the potential to provide flexible meeting space for council services”, the town hall said.
As previously reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the town hall has been looking to rejuvenate the pavilion since 2018, and initially planned to turn it into a food hall by 2021. Plans included a restaurant, café and training kitchen serving locally sourced food, as well as a food market selling local produce.
However, its 2019 bid for £1.5million in funding was turned down by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and plans for the “Real Food Hub” had been scrapped by early 2021.
A second bid, for a share of the Greater London Authority’s £12.85m civic partnership programme, was also unsuccessful.
Find out more about the project here
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