Date: 30/09/2008
Investigation works for the Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa project have been given the go-ahead and has started on Monday, September 29, 2008.
The investigation will include geotechnical and hydrological testing and will determine if the proposed scheme can move on to the detailed design and construction stages of development. The work is expected to take four months to complete.
High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire County Council and Nestlé - who own the Buxton brand of bottled water - have been working closely together with the developers, the Trevor Osborne Property Group and CP Holdings Ltd, to ensure that the works are completed over the coming months.
There will be minimal disruption to car parking during the investigation works and the Council will keep residents informed, as the works proceed.
The Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa Project will provide:
Tony Kemp, High Peak Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Regeneration, said: "This is a major achievement for the project and something that we are all incredibly excited about. We hope that the test results will show that the redevelopment of this important and historic building can go ahead and be transformed into a high quality tourist attraction and accommodation for Buxton and the High Peak."
Derbyshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Geoff Carlile, also Chairman of the Joint Crescent Committee, said: "This is an important step and I am delighted we have got to this stage in the project, which will regenerate the town."
Trevor Osborne, from the Trevor Osborne Property Group, said: "With my partners, CP Holdings and Danubius, we have been working towards this day for 10 years. I pray that the investigation works will go to plan, allowing us to realise our long held dream and ambition to restore the Crescent and Spa -- Buxton's very heart."
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded the Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa Project £12.5million in 2006.
The total cost to develop the project is about £32million.
Background:High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council have worked together on this project for many years. In 2003, project developers, Trevor Osborne Property Group Limited and CP Holdings Ltd, were appointed to carry out the work.
The Buxton Crescent Hotel and Thermal Spa Company Limited is a joint venture. Trevor Osborne Property Group Limited and CP Holdings Ltd are joint developers while the operator of the spa hotel will be Danubius Hotels, Europe's leading spa hotel operator.
Historical information:The Crescent was the centre-piece of the fifth Duke of Devonshire's scheme to create a fashionable spa in the North of England. It was designed by John Carr of York and constructed during 1780-1789 to provide an assembly room, two hotels (among the first purpose built hotels in the country) and six lodging houses.
One of the hotels closed in the early part of the last century. It became the County Council offices and the town's library in 1970, before becoming vacant in 1992. The other hotel (St Ann's) closed in 1989 and has remained empty.
The Natural Baths evolved over many centuries and occupy the site of the Roman Baths, situated over the main mineral water spring.
The current building was constructed in 1853, to the design of Henry Curry, but was altered in the 1920s. It was partly refurbished as the Tourist Information Centre, but most of the building has been empty since 1972. The Pump Room was built for the seventh Duke of Devonshire, by Henry Curry, in 1894. It was last used to "take the waters" in the 1970s.
