Plans to restore the Grade II-listed bandstand at the historic Roker Park have taken a key step forward, following a decision by city leaders.

Sunderland City Council’s cabinet of senior councillors has approved the procurement and award of a contract to repair and refurbish the bandstand and ex-park keeper’s lodge in Roker Park.

The 144-year-old bandstand was once the stunning Victorian centrepiece of the coastal park but has since fallen into a state of disrepair and was fenced off in summer 2021, with warning signs put in place.

At a council meeting in March, 2022, council bosses said work on the bandstand was due to be completed within 12 months, however the project was pushed back due to other park developments.

The local authority said delays were due to works on a new café in the park, which is now in operation, as well as other works to restore the park’s water features, including a boating lake.

Regeneration works are part of a wider project to improve facilities at Roker Park, including plans approved in early 2023 for amphitheatre seating near the bandstand with a view of making it the “beating heart of the park once again”.

At a meeting on July 1, 2024, Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee voted unanimously to approve repairs and restoration works at the bandstand.

A report to Sunderland City Council’s cabinet on Thursday, October 17, said the bandstand and lodge are in a “poor condition” and require “essential repair and refurbishment works to address numerous internal and external defects”.

Proposed improvement works include “roof renewals, structural repairs, damp proofing works, renewal of mechanical and electrical services and installations, renewal of sanitary and kitchen fittings, external timber repairs/renewal and external decoration”.

Investment aims to bring the bandstand, which has been out of use for years and fenced off as a health and safety precaution, back into public use once again.

Councillor Kevin Johnston, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for housing, regeneration and business, told the cabinet meeting he was “delighted” to bring the report forward.

He said Roker Park was a “registered park and garden of special historic interest” and that renovation works aimed to bring the bandstand in line with other recent park improvements.

“The council has already enhanced and improved the park including the installation of a new café, a Changing Places toilet facility and landscaping with a view to increasing visitor numbers and improving the overall visitor experience,” Cllr Johnston said.

“In accordance with the corporate asset management strategy, property services undertake a programme of property asset inspections to assess condition and identify and prioritise future planned maintenance requirements, which has identified that the bandstand and lodge are in poor condition.

“The current poor condition detracts significantly from other recent and ongoing improvements, including work that has already started on the amphitheatre with the Marty Longstaff and The Lake Poets lyrics from the song ‘Shipyards’ integrated into that.”

Cllr Johnston previously said the works would allow the council to “complete the current £1.6 million regeneration of the park” and “make the most of the area around the bandstand as a performance space.”

Councillor Michael Butler, cabinet member for children’s services, child poverty and skills, speaking at this week’s decision-making cabinet, welcomed the proposals.

The councillor also praised St Peter’s ward councillor David Newey for his “persistent lobbying” around Roker Park improvements and said they would be a “fantastic addition”.

According to its official Historic England listing, the Roker Park bandstand dates from circa 1880 and is recognised for a range of features, including its “corniced base with panelled patterns” and “central cupola raised on pearced iron band with iron cresting”.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department described the bandstand as a “fine example of a Victorian Bandstand influenced by Chinese style garden buildings” but noted “its condition has deteriorated to a point where it is at risk and can no longer be used”.

Planning documents linked to the previous bandstand application noted parts of the structure suffer from corrosion and staining, as well as “signs of rot to the timbers around the [roof] perimeter”.

The city council previously said “urgent repairs” were needed to ensure the bandstand’s “long-term conservation and [to] re-establish its purpose as a focus for events in the park”.

Get more content including the stories that matter to your community from The Northern Echo with a £1 trial subscription for four weeks here.

Most read:

Proposed works include a range of roof and metalwork repairs, as well as the “full redecoration” of the structure’s central dome or ‘cupola’ and “installing new tiles to cover the bandstand’s existing concrete floor”.

Plans for the bandstand and lodge refurbishment are the third and final stage of the current £1.6 million transformation of Roker Park.

A cabinet report states the contract value for the bandstand and lodge works is estimated at £554,190 and will be funded from existing council budgets.