Specialist contractors are competing for a £2million contract to prepare the way for the long-awaited Crescent regeneration project.

The ‘enabling’ contract will include the creation of a new basement at the rear of the Crescent, protecting the foundations of the Grade I listed building.

Project partners hope to see the contractors on site in the spring, but the start date will depend on the outcome of an anticipated bid to the new £1.4billion Regional Growth Fund.

The grant aid is needed to replace a £5million contribution from the East Midlands Development Agency, which is to be wound up. However, the remainder of the original £32.4million funding package, including a £12.5million Heritage Lottery grant, is still in place and the partners are confident that the necessary alternative finance will be found.

Bids to the growth fund will be made by the new Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership. One of the members is Derbyshire County Council – which is also a partner in the Crescent project, along with High Peak council, the Trevor Osborne Property Group, CP Holdings and Danubius.

It is understood that a bid for Regional Growth Fund grant aid for the much-delayed creation of a five-star, 79-bedroom spa hotel will have to be made in January.

Trevor Osborne is upbeat about a spring start on the Crescent revival: “We were delighted at the creation of the new fund. There are strong indications  that it will be encouraging regional growth and investment that means jobs,” he says.

“Our case is a very strong one – in fact I don’t think it can be bettered anywhere in the UK.”

Twelve contractors have so far expressed an interest in the enabling contract and consultants have been called in to assess the applications. He adds: “We are very interested in local tenders and want to support local jobs.”

Once open, the Crescent will become only the second genuine spa hotel to open in the UK in more than a century.

This article has been supplied courtesy of Pure Magazine. © Pure Buxton 2010