Mechanics Institute

[Bushey Boy]

Im sure Talk Talk will go into one on this but whats peoples thoughts on this building.

Personally i know from experience the issues the railway village has had recently with drug addicts, burglaries and crack houses, so whats the big fuss about this place? Ok it has history but surely the current own who has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds should be allowed to develop it?

The local community will get rooms and facilities and the bulk of the buidling will be kept.  If it stays as it is it will be a pile of rubble inside 10 years.

Your thoughts.....?

[yeo]

Its getting developed isnt it?

I thought he was turning into a hotel with a big glass bit on the side?

[Bushey Boy]

thats what he wants but in paper tonight people are moaning about it, well a columnist is.

[flammableBen]

The longer it goes without use the more likely an owner will decide that it needs to be accidently burnt down so that a nice big insurance cheque will come through the post.

Hasn't that heppened a few places around Swindon?

[Bushey Boy]

ha the columnist says he would rather have a prison in there than a hotel, that would be funny, bet he wouldnt.  If I was the owner id put in for a prison just to get planning for a hotel.

[yeo]

A fire wont change anything its fucked anyway.

I saw some people working on the roof over christmas I think.

[Bushey Boy]

yeah gael mackenzies place up behind HSBC, I wouldnt know about this sort of thing.......... :shock:

[Simon Pieman]

I know it isn't being used but we've already lost many historical buildings. As soon as you stick a modern glass thing on the side it is no longer historical. I know it's 'just a building' but some people are as passionate about this sort of thing as we are about having STFC in Swindon.

If you think about, it's no longer the Mechanics Institute once it's gutted out. I think a lot of people are very sentimental over it.

[Bushey Boy]

But what can be done to restore it and the developer wont get a return on his money?  I just think the whole of our town centre is a mess and needs completely re doing

[Simon Pieman]

I think the point is, if the building is going to be lost, may as well knock it down and start again.

[flammableBen]

One of the problems with the lifelessness of the town centre is the complete lack of anything that looks like it has any history about it, so I'd sort of agree that we should keep hold of anything that's left. Especially as so much of Swindon has been built up so recently.

They should make it into a giant version of the gluepot. Unfortunately I'd think a wetherspoons is more likely, even more likely is the crazy residents round the corner will complain about anything other than a glass fronted office or leaving at as a wreck. I'd probably go for the later.

If it's listed doesn't the current owner have to keep it in a certain state of repair?

[RobertT]

he has spent a lot of money repairing the structure and cleaning it up by all accounts.  I think they were generally positive about most of his plans but then he wanted to add a huge glass cube tower where the extension bit is (which is pretty ugly as is).

[TalkTalk]

Im sure Talk Talk will go into one on this but whats peoples thoughts on this building.

 

If it's listed doesn't the current owner have to keep it in a certain state of repair?

It is indeed a Grade II* listed building, So Mr Singh (the owner) is duty bound to at least keep it from falling down, even if it is not in use. Hence the roof repairs the year before last (and no, I don't think it was touched in 2006). So "it will eventually decay" is not allowed.

The future of the building boils down to one simple question. What use could it have that would make it economically viable in terms of the £25M+ investment required to return it to any sort of useful condition and then yield enough operating turnover and profit to keep it maintained and any investor happy?

There are two answers and they both have sticking points.

1) Go down the hotel route but that would result in a horribly out of character redevelopment of the central section to be able to accommodate enough rooms (and residents) to be viable. The car parking issue is also a very real worry, both for the locals and the council.

2) Wave a magic wand and conjure up a hell of a lot of investment, or find a benefactor with money to burn or go for a grant (which is what the Mechanics' Institution Preservation Trust recently did with their unsuccessful recent Big Lottery bid).

The Trust have done a lot of work on alternative economic and community uses incidentally. There are options which could work for Swindon if the initial investment could be found. Apart from the oversized hotel idea, there are no other business occupied ways of producing enough income - like a night club or a bar or offices etc. The building is just too "in between" in size to be suitable for anything else.

The council is now swaying towards Mr Singh's idea if a suitable sympathetic hotel block design can be found. Their attitude is that he does own the damn thing and it might be the only viable future for what is indeed an historic, symbolic and much loved Swindon icon.

Unfortunately English Heritage (the listed building authority in this case) have not liked anything proposed so far.

So, the poor old building is stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment.

[Bushey Boy]

I should have just pmd talk talk he knows everything about trusts etc! ledge

[mattboyslim]

From what I have heard, read and seen the plans have been misinterpreted.  There is absolutley no space for sideways expansion, and I think the glass structure is to replace the somewhat unsightly brick tower in the middle which was added after the original buildings development, IIRC this housed the scenary from the theatre.  Development is a nightmare as there is no parking, the listed nature of the building and special preserved status of the whole railway village, bullish locals, the vast costs, and from what I was told some years ago the reluctance of SBC to give permission for anything other than the residential develoment of the site.

IMHO a tasteful modern development would be nice, but it has to be for profit, and not trying to recreate the past with a 'community facility'.  The development is gonna cost millions and I can't see any philanthropic individuals or SBC putting in enough cash.

Frankly if the guy can do enough to stop it collapsing even if it's the wrong land use at least there would be some long term security for the place.