One of Keighley’s most iconic town centre buildings could be restored with a £285,000 grant.
The three-storey Jean Junction premises at 3 High Street is the latest building set to benefit from Keighley’s £2.7 million Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI).
Keighley Area Committee will be asked tomorrow night to support the ambitious renovation project.
The work – which will be part-funded by the building’s owner – will include structural repairs, renewing traditional windows, restoring the shop front, and inserting a new staircase.
The Grade II-listed building is one of the oldest Victorian buildings in the town centre, erected in 1876 by the Duke of Devonshire.
It was originally the home of Keighley’s Liberal Club, boasting two reading rooms, conversation rooms, refreshment bar, billiard room and smoke room.
The ground floor was originally occupied by stables, with a small hayloft above.
At the turn of the last century, about nine metres was cut from the front of the building so that the road could be widened, as part of the rebuilding of one side of adjacent North Street.
The new facade featured pre-Raphaelite carvings by renowned Keighley stonemason Alex F Smith.
In later years, the building housed a printing firm, before becoming home to the Jean Junction shop around two decades ago.
The £285,000 grant for the building has been approved by Keighley THI partnership board, and is awaiting approval from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The committee will tonight be told that 3 High Street is a Priority One project because it is a Grade II-listed building and one of the most high-profile buildings in the THI area.
THI is a three-year scheme to bring buildings back to their Edwardian and Victorian glory in the area around North Street, High Street and Church Street.
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