Fire tragedy building is restored (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Fire tragedy building is restored

THE finishing touches have been made to the restoration of the Stow building gutted by a fire that killed two women.

Andalucia Goosen, aged 24, from South Africa and Eleonora Maria Sulikowska, 18, from Poland, died in the blaze on November 30, 2003.

The house in which they lodged had been left empty until last January. But restoration of the three-storey, late-1700s Church Street building, which is listed for preservation, was delayed until December because estate agent Humberts had to finalise various details, including consent for the work from Cotswold District Council.

Now the six-month restoration work is complete and Humberts, on behalf of the owner Vivienne Hopkins, will market the upper-floor residential areas and part of the ground-floor shop.

The town's Eastabrook Architects designed and supervised the restoration conducted by Stow builder Keith Pulham and his six-man team

One specialist involved was Pete Muckle who, as commander of Stow's part-time firefighters, led the fight against the blaze.

Mr Muckle, a self-employed builder subcontracted to restore the roof and interior partitions, said: "It was a bit strange the first time I worked there but it's nice to get a conclusion."

There were originally two shops operating on the ground floor. The less-damaged ground-floor unit, formerly Acanthus florists, was the first part to be refurbished and became Floreo flower shop in March.

Mrs Hopkin's agent John Catling said: "They've done a lovely job."

He added that an assessment of the rental value would now be carried out and they would look to let the building out as a whole or in two parts. The women who died worked for the Royalist Hotel in Stow and had lived in the staff quarters above. The building was reduced to a shell in the blaze.