A £2.7m visitors’ centre has opened at a World Heritage Site in Blaenavon, Wales.

The site was developed with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Welsh Assembly Government, Visit Wales, the Department for the Economy and Transport, CADW and Torfaen Council.

The centre aims to tell the story of Blaenavon – which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 – and how the area helped to “change the world during the industrial revolution”.

The centre itself is a Grade II-listed former school building, which was built in 1815 and closed in the early 1980s, but has been transformed into a visitors’ centre with exhibitions and interactive computers.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who opened the site, said: “Achieving World Heritage status has proved to be the catalyst for regeneration of this area. In fact, research shows that Blaenavon is the UK World Heritage site that has benefited most from World Heritage status.

“The development of this new centre brings together all the elements of the remarkable Blaenavon story and presents the Blaenavon industrial landscape as a whole. A derelict building has been brought back to life in order to offer local people and visitors an excellent facility that will support the growth of the tourism sector in Blaenavon and the wider Heads of the Valleys area.”