A NEW community space, known as The Reading Room, was officially opened at The Laverton last week, which marks the final phase of a 10-year renovation project of the historic building.
The former tin structure to the left-hand side of The Laverton, posed safety concerns with an unsafe roof and blocked the fire escape.
Instead of simply demolishing the building and tarmacking the surface, the town council decided instead to build a new community room, to allow somewhere for groups and businesses to meet.
The structure was formerly a tin hut with shutters, which was used as a tuck shop for when the building was an institute of learning and owned by Mr Laverton, mill owner and Westbury benefactor. The Laverton building is now used as the council offices and is a popular venue for hire.
The new space is named ‘The Reading Room’ as homage to Mr Laverton’s own reading room, and groups are invited to use the space as a community area, available all day every day – even outside the hours of the Laverton building.
The council welcomes charities, businesses and groups to make use of the multi-function room which has a separate entrance and flexible working space. Wi-fi is available, along with tables, plugs for laptops, and toilet facilities.
Mayor of Westbury, cllr Ian Cunningham, who formally opened the new room on Friday 10th August said, “Huge credit goes out to all the staff who have worked enormously hard, with great results. It’s easy as a councillor to vote for such things, but they have been putting in tremendous work to ensure its completion. It’s beautifully done and has now made the fire escape safe and it will suit community use. I believe a huge round of applause is needed for all involved.”
Deborah Urch, town clerk added, “I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, it’s modern, contemporary and safe, which was our main concern, and it’s well built.
“It’s a real comparison between the main building and the new space and you can tell the difference between the Victorian and the modern, but it will definitely fit in with the community.
“Just from the website and social media we have gained some interest in groups that want to use the space. But we need to know what businesses and groups want to use it for, so we can accommodate in furniture. We want to purchase flexible-use furniture so that the room can function for a variety of uses. without wasting money.”
Built by contractors Emery Brothers of Bath, and Wheelers of Westbury whose work included the electrics and plumbing, the project, which was targeted to be complete in June, only overran by three weeks due to the snow back in March.
It cost in the region of £140,000 of which £130,000 was borrowed by the council from the Public Works Loans Board, a statutory body of the Government that provides loans to public bodies from the National Loans Fund and the rest was taken from an earmarked reserve and a small amount from capital. The precept (paid by residents) was not increased in order to fund this project.
