The National Trust for Jersey is aiming to restore the historic character of three homes and two shops behind the Premier Inn development at Charing Cross as part of a £1.5 million project.
They include the former music store run by Francis Foot, a gramophone dealer and photographer who documented Jersey life in the early 1900s, which is being turned into a coffee shop that will be called Locke’s Stories.
The work on that building includes refitting it with items that were once used by Mr Foot, including the old shop counter and display shelves.
Carpenter John Ovenden, who is working with Tony Gray and Ernie Le Brun on the restoration, said that Islanders were being invited to a viewing of the project on Saturday 28 April.
‘We are recreating the original three houses and with the Foot shop we are going to make it into a coffee shop, and there is going to be an art gallery next door,’ he said.
‘I think Ian Rolls is going to be putting his art work in there. We are putting the fronts back up and restoring the buildings to how they were. We are refitting them with what we found in here basically.’
During the restoration project a number of artefacts have been discovered, including posters, a photograph of Mr Foot and children’s toys.
Mr Ovenden said that those who attended the open day could expect to experience a taste of the past with old records that were bought in the store due to be played.
‘They will be bringing down some of the original gramophones and the original records, which will still have the Foot sticker on them, and playing them,’ he said. ‘It will be very moving to see that – it will be reliving history.’
He added: ‘The project has been so enjoyable. We are restoring history, which is a really lovely experience.’
Former teacher Ella Locke and her husband Drew, who played rugby professionally for Jersey, the Cornish Pirates and Gloucester, are leasing the café from the National Trust for Jersey and plan to offer seating for up to 35 and an alfresco area for 20.
Pitt Street, which runs alongside the café, is also being revitalised with new paving featuring historical texts and lighting.
