by Andrew Quinn

The fight to save to save the historical Rose Garden Cafe is ramping up,

Calls for the demolition of the cafe in Graves Park surfaced in 2022 due to safety concerns, causing protests amongst the community.

This sparked a campaign to save the building and now as a result of these efforts and initiatives, the cafe is closer than ever to a full refurbishment.

The council’s charity sub committee has emphasized their commitment to preserving the historical features  of the building in a meeting this week, while ensuring it remains sustainable, acting as a modern space for future generations through the use of ‘modernization.’

Leading this project are project manager of the capital delivery service Rebecca Nixon, Julie Collins from the Rose Garden Cafe, architect of Wainwrights Chris Hill and Head of Parks and Countryside Ruth Bell. who have been working to develop a “flexible” refurbishment plan. T

Rebecca Nixon stated that widening community use is a “key goal.” with plans to reinstate old features such as patio doors while buying in new features like additional seating areas creating “lots of flexibility for new management and operation organisations” 

While the restoration has received lots of positive feedback, the funding remains a major challenge, the estimated 2.6m cost is a significant hurdle, however there are fundraising plans to help overcome this.

Julie Collins spoke about fundraisers events include an Easter activity day on April 12 with egg hunts and face painting amongst the activities and a quiz night on May 2 where a pound per ticket will go towards the funding. Furthermore, the scheme at Dukes Cafe has raised £1,924 via donating 10p per coffee purchased.

The journey to restoring the cafe has been no easy task with Coun Richard Williams admitting he “did not envision the plan would get to this point”  but praised the hard work from all involved and said the project is “moving at a great pace to a great place.”