A £2.4 MILLION Lottery-funded refurbishment of a town centre will finally be finished early this year.

Eleven renovation projects involving historic buildings are awaiting completion as part of the five-year Keighley Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI).

Bosses of the scheme promise a “final flurry of activity” in the coming weeks to ensure the entire amount of cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Bradford Council is spent.

Work in North Street, Church Street and High Street will include repairs, new shopfronts and windows, and the creation of flats.

Work began in June 2011, with the aim of returning town centre buildings to their Victorian and Edwardian glory, while bringing them back into use as shops, offices and living accommodation. Property owners were expected to invest money alongside the Council and lottery grants.

The council’s Regeneration and Economy Scrutiny and Overview Committee recently heard that the scheme had missed its intended finish date of December 2016.

The report stated “An extension was granted until December 31, 2016 in order to spend the money and maximise the impact of the project on the historic environment.

“Due to some unforeseen delays with projects on site a further extension is likely to be requested to take the project into early 2017. Several properties are currently in the process of taking up a grant which will have a significant impact on the area when they are completed. The project has helped building owners repair, improve and bring properties fully back into use. The public realm has seen significant improvements and helped to improve the entrance into Keighley town centre.

“The scheme will promote investment and increase footfall in the area, and instil a sense of pride in this architecturally stunning and distinctive environment.”

The report stated that one high-priority project had been the long-neglected former Kitchen Kraft premises at 17 North Street, and Council officers had “persistently” tried for the past five years to devise a suitable refurbishment scheme. The report added: “Unfortunately it has not proved possible to resolve a scheme which meets Heritage Lottery Fund criteria with the property owner.”

Successful high-profile refurbishment projects have included the North Street arcade, the Jean Junction building on High Street, the Civic Centre in the former police station, and the Keighley Volunteer Centre building on North Street.

Such projects encouraged other property owners to improve their shopfronts without the help of a grant but with advice from the council’s conservation team.