August completion for hall
WORK is continuing on the extension and refurbishment of the Dickson Hall in Laurencekirk. Rev Ronnie Gall, chair of the Dickson Hall Trust, says that the contractors assure him that they remain on course for a mid-August completion date.
Mr Gall said: "The completion date has moved back a bit from what it was originally, but not for some time.
"The extension is up, the roofer is finishing his work and work has started on fitting out the inside of the extension.
"There is still scaffolding inside the building to allow work on the roof, but that will be gone soon and enable joiners to get on with stripping out the floors."
Mr Gall was joined this week for a look round the hall by senior community learning worker Sue Briggs, representing Aberdeenshire Council, who have contributed financially to the project.
The bulk of the money for the hall project has come from the government's Town Centre Regeneration Fund, but 40,000 of planning gain money has also come via the local authority.
The hall was built in 1905 by the Dickson family of Laurencekirk, who later donated it to the church. For some years, the hall has been run by the Dickson Hall Trust and when all the work is complete, the new hall will be administered by a steering group made up of representatives from the church, the community and the council.
Sue Briggs said: "The hall will be run by the community for the community. The aim of the Regeneration Fund was to give small towns a boost and that will be the case here.
"The success of the Dickson Hall bid was due to the fact that we were ready to go. Lots of people have given time, expertise and effort and that local commitment was valued highly."
The new hall will be a multi purpose building, designed for use by many different groups and organisations.
It will consist of a main hall, meeting room, kitchen, toilets and storage. Upstairs there will be office space and further storage.
The heating system will have all the necessary green credentials. The boiler, which will burn wood pellets, has been approved by a number of eco bodies.
The halls leaded windows have been taken out and rebuilt. Those next to the road have been replaced with plain glass to increase the natural light inside.
Mr Gall added: "We have retained all the key characteristics and features of the hall. Inside the wooden beams of the roof are still visible, although with insulation in between them.
It is hoped that members of the Dickson family will be present for an official opening ceremony in September.
While the hall project is continuing apace, another element of the successful bid for Town Centre Regeneration cash has had to be scrapped.
It was planned to reinstate the "Posties Path" alongside the railway line, so named because the posties used to use it to collect mail off trains.
Mr Gall says the path plan has been shelved because of Network Rail's insistance that the work could not go on during the day when trains were running.
"Network Rail said we would have to take control of the railway track when work was going on. This would mean work would only be possible at night and at weekends which would put the costs through the roof.
"Our aim with the path was to improve access from the houses in that area to the railway station. We are now looking at other environmental improvements with the same broad aim of improving access."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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