Sold! – Group buys Pavilion for just £1

The landmark building is now in the hands of The Grand Pavilion Ltd, following the move by Derbyshire Dales District Council’s Corporate Committee.

Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the sale, hopeful doing so would secure its future.

Gregor Macgregor, chairman of The Grand Pavilion Ltd, a group set up to save the premises, said it was the best present he could have hoped for this Christmas.

“We really needed this because we had started to approach funding bodies that really wanted to have a lengthy lease or ownership of the building before they would consider us,” he explained.

In April this year the group made an unsuccessful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to transform the former tourist information office into a heritage centre.

Gregor said they would be able to reapply for this, and already had a number of other grants to apply for in mind from organisations such as the Arts Council and the Regional Growth Fund.

“Once we have got funding from one place we will be in a position where the other organisations will be more likely to back us,” he added.

The pavilion has had a chequered history, at one time it was the premiere venue in the area, however was in a state of disrepair when it closed its doors as a nightclub four years ago.

David Mowle, Grand Pavilion building officer, said when the group was first formed it had the intention of saving the building but didn’t imagine making as much progress as it has done to date.

Dave said: “We have just had our 10,000 person through the door, which is quite an achievement.”

Further information on the grand Pavilion is available by visiting www.thegrandpavilion.co.uk