Opening of Blaenavon World Heritage Site Visitor Centre
The £2.7m Blaenavon World Heritage Site Visitor Centre is now up and running. Developed with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Welsh Assembly Government, Visit Wales, the Department for the Economy and Transport, CADW and Torfaen County Borough Council, the centre tells the story of Blaenavon and its surrounding industrial landscape, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The derelict former school, a Grade II-listed building built in 1815, has been brought back to life to tell the town's remarkable history through exhibitions and interactive computers.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan, who opened the site, said: “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. Achieving World Heritage status has proved to be a major catalyst in the regeneration of this area. In fact, research shows that Blaenavon is the UK World Heritage site that has benefited most from World Heritage status.”