A planning application is to be submitted as part of a £6m project to transform the General Offices at a former South Wales steelworks into a new visitor attraction.
The scheme to redevelop the Grade-II listed building at The Works:Ebbw Vale is a joint venture partnership between Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and the Welsh Assembly Government.
Once the administrative centre of the steelworks, the General Offices building is the only remaining historic structure remaining on the site and will be at the heart of the wider £300m regeneration of the 20-acre (8-hectare) industrial site.
Plans for the General Offices include the creation of a new, interactive genealogy and family history centre, while discussions are also underway with local authorities over the possibility of relocating the Gwent Record Office.
The first phase of work has already been carried out on the General Offices, which involved the restoration of the original 2,500sq m (26,910sq ft) roof. The next stage is a £650,000 enabling contract to revamp the building's exterior.
Leighton Andrews, the Welsh Assembly Government's deputy minister for regeneration, said: "It has the potential to play a key role in attracting tourists to the area while providing a superb new facility that is designed to benefit communities across the Heads of the Valleys region."
Funding for the General Offices project, which also includes parking and the creation of a landscaped, open public square, has come through a £3.35m grant from the Heads of the Valleys programme, as well as £2.65m of European funding.
