Bosses eye end date for Whitchuch Civic Centre's revamp
Bosses behind £700,000 plans to revamp Whitchurch's Civic Centre said today the work could be finished by December.
Work is scheduled to begin in June to give the building, in High Street, a new facade and redesigned foyer, providing the plans get the go ahead. Work was originally due to start in March but about 100 people signed a petition claiming the design did not reflect the character of the town.
They called for a more traditional approach, and that forced Shropshire Council's planning committee to take a closer look.
The revised plans will now be considered at a planning meeting on March 5.
Neil Willcox, commissioning manager for Shropshire Council, said a revised business plan had been created and work should completed quicker than originally planned.
He said: "We are hoping it goes through planning committee and then we anticipate starting the project in June.
"We are still hoping to complete by Christmas, we don't anticipate the end date will change.
"The architects and the designers have had a bit of a rethink and believe they can do it in a shorter amount of time."
The scheme, phase one of a £1.6 million project, was also due to include the construction of a mezzanine floor in the Market Hall, but that has now been scrapped.
Councillor Rob Hewson, deputy mayor of Whitchurch and chairman of the Civic Centre, had raised concerns about the possibility of the building being shut until February 2014 and welcomed the change in the plans.
He said: "I'm confident we'll be open for Christmas, we'll get going and get it done. We have traders we have to look after."
