Road to be closed as work at Red House Glass Cone to start

Bridge Street will be closed on October 26 and 27 while a crane accesses the site and lifts beams into place to form an initial base for external scaffolding.

The one-way restriction on Mill Street will temporarily be lifted to allow residents of John Street and Alwen Street access to their homes.

The site will be closed to all staff, tenants, and visitors during the two days.

Once the base is in place, scaffolding will go up around the cone's exterior allowing technicians to repoint the entire structure from top to bottom with authentic lime mortar.

Vegetation sprouting from the cone, a Grade II* listed, Scheduled Ancient monument, will also be carefully removed on a phased basis.

Dudley Council is spending £1.5million on the restoration and ongoing maintenance work which is expected to take around 18 months.

Additional work will include new drainage around the building and access to the tunnels. Inside the cone the internal gantry and lift will be removed to create a more open accessible space.

A new lift will be put in place by the visitor centre to allow wheelchair access to the upper level where a viewing platform will allow people to see into the cone.

The hot glass studio is also to be remodelled.

Councillor Paul Bradley, Dudley Council's cabinet member for communities and economic delivery, said: “We began work on this major project over the summer and people will really start to see significant work happening as we scaffold this iconic structure.

“We ask that people bear with us for two days while we close the roads to get this heavy equipment on site, but we’ve made sure that residents will still be able to access their homes during this time.”

The council has worked with an accredited historic architect and Historic England to secure the appropriate permission to begin the sensitive works which must be carried out using authentic techniques and materials to remain true to the cone’s history.