Published at 16:06, Friday, 22 March 2013

BARROW council’s biggest commercial asset is to be given a million pound-plus makeover and a £300,000 new roof.

asset Phil Huck, Barrow Borough Council executive director and Craven House – the fourth floor is to be leased by Cumbria County Council

Cumbria County Council is set to take over the fourth floor of Craven House after approaching the owners, Barrow Borough Council.

A total of £1.6m-worth of refurbishment work will be carried out in preparation for the move.

The county council will pay the borough council £59,256 per annum over a 15-year lease term for the Michaelson Road site.

The borough council’s executive meeting agreed to the lease and granted £300,000 towards the project when it met on Wednesday.

The committee also agreed to spend a further £300,000 to put a new roof on the building.

Phil Huck, borough council executive director, said improvements were needed to bring the floor up to lease standard.

He said Craven House earned the council £176,000 a year and described it as “by far our largest, individual commercial asset”.

Councillor Brendan Sweeney told the meeting that filling the floor would help boost the “vitality” of the town centre.

He said: “It’s an all-round winner for us to be filling up our sites in the town centre.”

Explaining the need for a new roof, Mr Huck said: “At some point in time, we’ll have to replace the roof. I’m sure it’s the original roof put there when it opened in 1960, so it’s certainly well past its normal life expectancy.

“We could patch it up, but it would be a false economy.”

When contacted by the Evening Mail, the county council was unable to confirm what effect moving into the building will have on its existing accommodation in Barrow.

Mr Huck said he understood the county council was looking to move most of the services it provides in Barrow into the building.

A Cumbria County Council spokeswoman said: “Craven House will be used for staff accommodation and the council is delighted to have been able to work with Barrow Borough Council to help secure office accommodation for our staff in the town centre.”

The building is presently occupied by James Fisher and Sons, Jobcentre Plus and Agilisys, but part of the second floor, a section of the third floor and the entire fourth floor are vacant.

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