Huddersfield George Hotel: New plans for rugby league birthplace
GoogleAT A GLANCE
- A former hotel is to undergo a £20m renovation before being reopened under the Radisson brand in 2024
- The George Hotel in Huddersfield was earmarked to become the national rugby league museum after the sport was founded at the hotel in 1895
- The 60-bed hotel closed in 2013 and was bought by Kirklees Council in 2020
- The building has been described as one of Huddersfield's "most iconic" due to its historic role and position outside the railway station
A Grade-II listed building in West Yorkshire famed for being the birthplace of rugby league is to become a hotel again after a council agreed renovation plans.
The George Hotel in Huddersfield was the location in 1895 of a meeting which led to the creation of the sport.
Closing as a hotel in 2013, plans to turn the Kirklees Council-owned site into the national rugby league museum were axed by the authority earlier this year.
But a £20m renovation by the Radisson hotel chain is now set to take place, with its reopening planned for November 2024.
The 60-bed hotel, which is outside the town's railway station, was refurbished by Kirklees Council after it purchased the dilapidated building in March 2020.
Huddersfield had fought off bids from Bradford, Leeds and Wigan that same year to win the right to host the national rugby league museum.
The hotel was where representatives from 21 northern rugby clubs held a meeting on 29 August 1895.
It was there they voted to secede from the Rugby Football Union to set up the Northern Union - renamed the Rugby Football League in 1922.
Dr Neil Clifton/GeographIn January this year, Kirklees Council said the venue would not be "financially viable" without an ongoing cost to the district's residents.
In May, the authority said it had looked at speaking to leisure operators about returning the building to its former role as a hotel.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the council's cabinet gave the go-ahead for the refurbishment.
Situated on St George’s Square, the renovation of the site is part of the Huddersfield Blueprint, aimed at the regeneration of the town centre.
Councillor Graham Turner described the hotel as likely to be Huddersfield’s “most iconic building”.
He added: “It’s been clear that Huddersfield needs a high quality hotel for a number of years, and by bringing The George back into use we will meet some of that need.”
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Shabir Pandor, leader of Kirklees Council, said it was "amazing" to bring money into the town at a time of financial hardship for people and businesses.
“Radisson is a big name and it just shows the kind of investors we are attracting into Kirklees," he said.
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