Great Hall tour should fire your imagination

5:20pm Wednesday 2nd May 2007

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THOSE keen to enter the LMO Great Hall competition should put a date in their diaries right away - Friday, May 18, 4pm onwards.

That is when they will have an opportunity to tour the old Leyton Town Hall in the High Road, view the Great Hall itself and see the results of the multi-million pound refurbishment.

Experts from the developers, Lee Valley Estates and Hiltongrove Business Space, will be there to offer information and advice.

The aim of the competition is to find a tenant for the part of the Victorian building known as the Great Hall, a large and magnificent space with beautiful features.

It is hoped that the tenancy will, initially, be for ten years and the prize will be the equivalent of one year rent-free.

Whoever takes on the challenge must be able to prove that: l The business is a good financial proposition l Would add to the culture and vitality of the area l Will be a good neighbour both to other users of the building and to the surrounding community l Ideally it should contribute to the post-2012 Olympic legacy.

Some of the ideas floated is that the Great Hall could become a performance space, an independent cinema, an art gallery and exhibition space, social space for events like wedding receptions, an Olynpics-related venue or any other business-like proposition you can conjure up.

The closing date for entries in Thursday, May 31.

Entries will then be shortlisted before the best ones make a presentation of Thursday, June 25, to a "dragon's den" panel comprising Michael Polledri, chairman of Lee Valley Estates, Guy Davis, chief executive of Hiltongrove Business Space, Cllr Clyde Loakes, leader of Waltham Forest Council, Gary Ince, chief executive of North London Business, Gary Walker, group director of Lee Valley Estates, and Pat Stannard, Waltham Forest Guardian editor.