Alderley Edge Parish Council confirmed this week that the Medical Centre project is on schedule to be completed by March 31st 2016.
Work on the roof of the festival hall is now completed, it should be fully tiled this week and the building will be water tight by the end of the week.
The focus will then switch to the interior and Jones Homes will mock-up two first floor rooms for the doctors to review the layout and hopefully approve.
The scaffolding will come down by 23rd October to allow for the reopening of the Festival Hall which is now scheduled for November 9th, by which time the interior will be completed -including the new bar and toilets.
The Parish Council will now be reassessing security arrangements for the site, including the perimeter fencing and gates at the side of the building, in order to come up with a set of costed proposals to be developed in conjunction with neighbouring property owners. They will then seek approval of those proposals from the police and NHSE.
A report from Geoff Hall, read in his absence at the Parish Council Meeting on Monday, 12th October, added "As already publicised we have made an application for planning approval for the 'Members Lounge' at the side of the festival hall. We are in the process of finalising costs for this work, as well as for other finishing work required at the back of the building.
"You will already know that the original budget for the whole refurbishment of the Festival Hall (including building the Members Lounge) was £540,000. We quickly identified that this was a significant underestimate and increased this as far as we could from within our own resources.
"We shall report on the expected additional spend required to complete the Members Lounge and other remaining works - together with our plans for funding this - at the November Parish Council meeting. "
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Personally I think it's pretty spectacular and a vast improvement on the eyesore that was there before.
Roll on March 2016.
Although not local for some time now, but remembering the good old Regal Ballroom from my dancing days,when on my occasional visits from the South Coast, I have viewed the excellent progress on the site.
Everything about the building looks good, and when I do a return visit this December, I hope that maybe I can enjoy a "Tea Dance" at the Festival Hall, at least for old times sake !
If this is the case, then I hope the Parish Council (as client/employer) are aware of the difference between "beneficial use" and "partial completion".
If not then the Parish Council might just, but hopefully not, find themselves in a difficult contractual position if any defects with the build become apparent at a later date.
Please be clear. I am in no way criticising anybody by this comment, or saying this will happen. Just airing my own personal opinion from limited knowledge,
It's just that as a professional In the construction industry (CEng) I have personally had previous experience of projects where different parts of a building have been "opened" and used before the full building has been completed.