THE PRINCE of Wales will visit the historic Drapers’ Hall today to kick off his tour of the Coventry and Warwickshire area.
As part of the region’s second Royal Visit in a year, Prince Charles will also tour the black cab London EV Company’s R&D Centre and Manufacturing Plant at Ansty Park near Walsgrave. He will tour the facility and meet employees.
While the Ansty Park visit was announced last week, Drapers’ Hall in the city centre was only announced today.
It is a Grade-II listed building which has been empty since the 1990s.
Charles will see from himself the plans to turn it into a performance venue and a musical education centre for Coventry’s young musicians.
The prince will then meet some young performers from the Coventry Music Service, which will use the hall once it has been restored.
The restoration of Drapers’ Hall, on Bayley Lane near the city’s cathedral quarter, is one of The Prince’s Foundation’s ‘7 for 70’ projects.
Last year, to coincide with The Prince of Wales’ 70th birthday, The Foundation launched the initiative to identify and undertake seven high-impact community regeneration projects throughout the UK.
Heritage group Historic Coventry Trust aims to have the restored hall opened in 2020, in time for the city’s tenure as UK City of Culture the following year.
The prince will also hear about archaeological excavations as part of the project, on the site of the old castle bailey.
Finally, the prince will visit the Undercrofts in the basement of the hall to view the remains of the 19th Century kitchen and scullery, and an air raid shelter from the Second World War.
The Prince of Wales will also visit Northamptonshire today.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, visited Coventry after it was named UK City of Culture.
Their January visit took them to the cathedral, the university and other venues.
