Festival Hall set to reopen this week with medical centre completed February

Work to create a new Medical Centre and refurbish the Festival Hall is on schedule, with the hall being handed over to the Parish Council later this week. However the Parish Council is unable to complete all the work they wish to carry out to the hall at this stage due to a lack of funds.

Phase one of the work to renovate and redecorate the hall is now largely complete, with final works and cleaning taking place this week. The first public event, an art exhibition, will be held at the venue this coming weekend giving local residents the opportunity to view the new lighter, brighter hall whilst enjoying the art on display.

Speaking at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 9th November, Councillor Geoff Hall commented "I said that this is the completion of Phase 1 of the building. This covers the Hall itself, the bar and the main entrance with toilets.

"However Phase 1 does not include additional works at the back of the building to provide two meeting rooms, the Parish Council offices and an access lift. It also excludes the construction of an additional Hospitality Suite (previously referred to as the Members Lounge) to the left of the entrance.

"As in the case of the Medical Centre we have found that the £540,000 budget which we inherited was a serious underestimate of the actual costs required to complete the specified work.To complete the full works planned will cost an additional £250,000.

"We would dearly love to complete this work now, while the builders are on site, so that – come 1st April 2016 – we would be able to have full enjoyment of the new Medical Centre and the Festival Hall, complete with three meeting rooms and an access lift. However, we currently lack the funds to do this."

Construction of the Medical Centre is on schedule to be completed at the end of February.

Councillor Geoff Hall said "The roof of the Medical Centre is now complete. The scaffolding has been removed from around the front and sides of the building, and final work is under way to complete the flashings between the two halves of the building.

"Most windows and doors have been installed and the building is now close to watertight. This means that the contractors can now concentrate on the internal fit-out during the winter months.

"Work is already well under way to partition off some of the rooms on the first floor, with a view to mocking up two consulting/treatment rooms so that the doctors can assess their preferred room layout. Negotiations are also progressing with the Pharmacy to agree fit-out requirements and lease terms."

Speaking about the security requirements for the site, Councillor Hall added "We have successfully renegotiated this with the police. Originally the drawings showed a 2.1m (7ft) fence around the sides and back of the building.

"You may recall that our predecessors had removed the cost of this from the budget, but had not first negotiated the specification change with the Police. Had we not addressed this then the building would not have been signed off when complete and the Parish Councl would have been at risk of losing the £500,000 in advance rent from NHSE.

"The revised security specification reduces the fence height to 6ft (1.8m) and confines it to the side boundary to the allotments only. We will mitigate its impact there through additional selective planting, which has been allowed for in our landscaping budget.

"Construction is on schedule with target completion set for end February to allow time for the District Valuer to assess the building and sign it off on behalf of the NHS, with time in hand before the 31st March deadline should any last minute 'snagging' work be required."

The Parish Council is currently working on solutions to enable them to complete the work at the back of the Festival Hall and build the new hospitality suite. They hope to be able to report more about this at the December Parish Council Meeting.

Tags:
Alderley Edge Medical Centre, Alderley Edge Parish Council, Festival Hall
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Roy Hall
Tuesday 10th November 2015 at 4:46 pm
How can one be £250k out on a building project?
Pete Taylor
Tuesday 10th November 2015 at 8:38 pm
Frankly, that's a very good question for the previous AEPC.
Sue Joseph
Wednesday 11th November 2015 at 2:21 pm
When comparing estimates of costs one has to compare like with like. Has the PC changed the original plans in any way which may have added to the original estimated costs?
Geoff Hall
Friday 13th November 2015 at 7:44 am
In answer to Sue Joseph's question: No.