ONE of the most prominent buildings in the heart of Ipswich is about to be revealed in all its glory after a major refurbishment project.Curson Lodge, on the corner of Silent Street and St Nicholas Street, is to be officially unveiled this week after the restoration project by the Ipswich Building Preservation Trust.

ONE of the most prominent buildings in the heart of Ipswich is about to be revealed in all its glory after a major refurbishment project.

Curson Lodge, on the corner of Silent Street and St Nicholas Street, is to be officially unveiled this week after the restoration project by the Ipswich Building Preservation Trust.

And after it is formally opened by Ipswich Mayor Inga Lockington on Thursday, anyone will be able to see inside the building over the heritage open weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

Now it has been restored, the building is on sale as an investment opportunity for £675,000. There are two flats - one with two bedrooms, one with a single bedroom - on the first floor and two shop units on the ground floor.

Tom Gondris from the IBPT was delighted to see the scaffolding coming down and the building being brought back to life.

He said: “It is really good to see the building coming back into life. And it is coming in more or less on budget and only a couple of weeks behind the originally planned date.

“It is a real tribute to the builders and our architect. We have now taken over the keys to the building and are waiting to see what interest there is in it.”

Mr Gondris hoped investors would be keen to snap up the building which would enable the trust to move on to its new project.

He said: “If we get our asking price we will have covered all our costs and the interest on the loan we had to take out to complete the work.

“The way we operate is that the money we get back from this will enable us to move on to another restoration project in the town.”

The heritage open days will see many buildings normally closed to the public opening their doors next Saturday and Sunday, September 8 and 9. Among those which will be open include the Unitarian Meeting House, Pykenham Gatehouse, and many other prominent buildings around the town.

Curson Lodge is popularly known as “Wolsey's House” but he never lived there - his father's shop was on the opposite side of St Nicholas' Street.