30 January 2012
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Ice factory fighters seek charitable status
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THE Great Grimsby Ice Factory Trust, the group fighting to preserve the historic Grimsby Ice Factory and its unique refrigeration equipment, is to become a company limited by guarantee and seek registered charity status. Among other benefits, the move will allow the organisation to take up a £3,500 offer of help from Lincolnshire Heritage and the Architectural Heritage Fund.
Great Grimsby Ice Factory Trust was originally set up as an unincorporated association, but to attract the scale of funding needed to ensure the future of the Grade II* listed Ice Factory, it must be a Building Preservation Trust.
The Architectural Heritage Fund money will go towards the cost of a mentor, who will advise on putting together a bid to fund an Options Appraisal, a vital first step in winning long term, large scale funding.
The factory, which has been unoccupied for more than 20 years, still contains much of its original refrigeration equipment including four huge 80-year-old J&E Hall ammonia compressors.
Speaking at the Great Grimsby Ice Factory Trust AGM, Chris Lester of the Society For Lincolnshire History And Archaeology said the factory had world importance in the refrigeration industry.