A LIVERPOOL landmark which lay derelict for three decades will open its doors to the public in less than five months, the trust behind a £6.4m restoration programme revealed last night.

While tarpaulin still shrouds the Florence Institute in Mill Street, Dingle, a team of 30 contractors are working flat out to meet their March deadline.

Work at the Grade II-listed Victorian boys’ club, wrecked in an arson attack in 1999, will see the “Florrie” open as a social hub – hosting weddings, live music events, functions, gym classes and education tours.

Eight new start-up businesses, including a small cafe, will launch when the building work is completed by the contractors currently on site.

Dianne Thompson, chief executive of lottery operator Camelot, which granted £3.7m towards the project, yesterday toured the vast structure.

She said she was “thrilled” by the progress being made on the site, which shut in the 1980s when funding dried up.

Ms Thompson said: “It is fantastic – it is what lottery funding was for.

“This is going to be such a wonderful venue when it is finished.