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Bid to save historic Lawrence centre
The outcome of a £1million bid to save Eastwood's DH Lawrence Heritage Centre and put the town on the map for a worldwide festival in 2013 will be announced in two weeks.
If the request for funds to the Arts and Humanities Research Council fails then the town's Durban House could be closed down.
If it is accepted then Eastwood could be the focus of the world celebrations for the Sons and Lovers centenary with a major international conference planned.
The University of Nottingham's Lawrence Research Centre submitted the 1million bid in May but the man who directed the bid, Dr Sean Matthews, says it is quite common for grants to be turned down.
He said: "It's a very competitive funding programme and it's a very ambitious bid.
"We are hopeful, but we can't count our chickens. We might get asked to re-apply in February with ideas about, for example, involving people outside Broxtowe or the centre website.
"It happens quite often with bids that they like but can't back straight away."
The money would fund a three-year project which would help to keep the centre open and invest in the DH Lawrence Birthplace Museum, on Mansfield Road.
Under the plans, new exhibitions will be designed, there will be reading groups, research groups, summer schools and public lectures.
The university would also become more actively involved with Eastwood schools and pupils would be able to access university resources.
In turn, the university would have unlimited access to the Eastwood sites.
Earlier this year, Broxtowe Borough Council voted to slash 60,000 from the heritage centre's 150,000 running costs, which will force it to shut or drastically reduce its opening hours if the university's plans fall through.
Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, Cllr Michael Rich, said: "This is the only fall back plan we have, and if the university doesn't get the grant, we'll have to go back to the original idea which was to close it or reduce opening hours."
When the authority's decision was announced at the budget meeting in April, outraged Lawrence fans set up a Save Durban House Facebook page.
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Weather for Eastwood
Thursday 24 May 2012
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Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
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