A PROJECT costing £2m saved one of Barrow's iconic buildings when a former college became a centre for the arts.

The foundation stone for the College of Science, Technology and Art on Abbey Road was laid in 1900 and the building was opened in 1903.

In 1985 the decaying building - termed the Barrow College Abbey Road annexe - was toured by governors.

The Mail, on April 18, noted: "Governor Frank Ward is to call for Barrow and Furness MP Cecil Franks to visit the annexe together with the Minister of Education.

"Mr Ward claims plaster is falling from the ceiling, broken windows have been boarded up for months, broken floor tiles create a safety hazard and roofs let in water."

He said: "The building is Dickensian, decrepit and it is a disgrace to the town that schoolchildren, students and apprentices have to be taught in such an establishment."

In 1992 Furness College principal Maggie Chadwick was looking towards new uses for the building..

She told The Mail, on January 21; "The building is badly run-down and of course no longer suitable for modern learning methods but we believe it is structurally sound and with imagination and investment can be transformed."

The former college was renamed in honour of Nan Tait OBE by councillors.

She had been both a borough and county councillor over a 50-year period and died, aged 83, in August 1999.

The Mail, on Monday, January 15 in 2001 noted that the arts spaces would be managed by Art Gene, an arts company found by Stuart Bastik and Maddi Nicholson, and would also be the base for Barrow carnival band the Barracudas."

An article on Friday, March 23 in 2001, noted: "Barrow's former Abbey Road technical college is making a spectacular comeback with a £2m makeover."

Work was taking place to create workshops and studios for artists, a mezzanine floor for music, movement and drama, education offices and meeting spaces.

An official opening ceremony for the new Nan Tait Centre was held in June 2001.

In February 2002 the Nan Tait Centre also became the new home for the registration of Barrow births, deaths and marriages.

Cash for the project came from Cumbrian County Council, the Heart of Barrow regeneration project, the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Arts Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the North West Development Agency.