Trust secretary David Tittle believes that the area will become a valued asset to
Coventry.
He said:
"We are just a group of local people who wanted to be involved in restoring the
street to the state it should be in.
"We are not referring to the area of Spon Street that was recently hit by fire, it
is on the other side of the ring road to that.
"There are six buildings in total and we believe that they are about 600 years
old, although that is currently being checked using a special dating technique.
"The buildings have not been occupied since the late 1970’s but people may
remember one of them because it used to house a fishmonger with the sign Moira’s Wet
Fish!
"Before that they were used for various different commercial and residential
purposes and one of the buildings was once the Black Swan pub, and that is why this is
called the Black Swan project."
The group will initially use the money to restore two of the six buildings
in the street creating a employment and enterprise centre which Tittle believes will be
very popular.
He said:
"The centre can be used for meetings, training in information technology, and for
people to receive business advice.
"There will also be the facility for local residents to take space in the centre
as starter units when they set up in business."
The trust hope that the current phase of the project will be completed by the end of
the year 2000, and are hoping to achieve further grants from English Heritage and the
Lotteries Board to complete the restoration work.
