![Blackpool Tower ballroom](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/aef8ff_3b7d0e9c97694dd9b743a4aa8982291e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_53,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/aef8ff_3b7d0e9c97694dd9b743a4aa8982291e~mv2.jpg)
Blackpool Tower Ballroom has been given over £760,000 to carry out major restoration work, and Blackpool Grand Theatre is to receive over £480,000 to stave off the threat of permanent closure it faced in the summer.
The ballroom, made famous by major dance competitions and as a venue for the BBC’s original Come Dancing series, is a Grade One listed building. Since opening in 1894 it has generally been recognised as the home of British ballroom dance, which continues today as it appears annually in a Strictly Come Dancing ballroom special.
The grant of £764,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund is one of a number of one-off sums in the latest government awards. The money will pay for comprehensive restoration work on the ballroom’s ornate ceiling.
So far the government's £1.57 billion fund has awarded over £150 million to heritage sites, around a quarter of it for work to be undertaken during the pandemic.