Hereford pavilion set for £1.5m revamp as plans submitted

The Pavilion is set for a £1.56m revamp which will include opening a cafe in the building

A Grade II listed Georgian building is in line for a £1.5m overhaul and will be turned into a community cafe and centre if plans are approved.

The Pavilion at Castle Green, Hereford, has been used as a training centre and arts college in the past, before being taken over by a community group.

The Friends of Castle Green (FoCG) have submitted plans backed with £1.56m from the government's Stronger Towns Fund.

If approved, work is due to start in spring 2023.

As well as a new cafe in the Pavilion, the building will also host art exhibitions and be a meeting place, the FoCG said.

It took over the site in 2018 through a community asset transfer from Herefordshire Council on a 25-year lease.

The building is a "bit of a hidden gem", project manager Katie Bott said, "a lot of people walk past every day and do not even realise it is here."

Hereford Youth Canoe Club will get new facilities at the Pavilion under the plans

The Hereford Youth Canoe Club currently occupies the ground floor of the Pavilion, which is next to the River Wye, and the plans aim to provide new facilities for the group too.

"It is going to be more inclusive for a whole range of different abilities that we cannot cater for at the moment, as well as hopefully increasing our capacity as a club," coach Nick James-Williams said.

The project could take up to 12 months to complete, once approval is given and construction begins, the FoCG said.

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