New chapter as Trowbridge Library opens (From This Is Wiltshire)

I took my daughter to the opening and we were both very impressed by the new library. The staff were very welcoming and there are many new books to go with the new building.

The refurb and rebuild of County Hall including this Library has cost £24M and provides space for up to 1200 Wiltshire council employees. Bourne Hill in Salisbury cost £18M and only houses 500 employees has no cafe or Library. The building in Salisbury costs so much more because it is substantially higher in quality and design and was designed by architects of worldwide renown using the very highest quality materials. Yet again Trowbridge has ended up with the worst deal and a cheap half job refurb. The front of this building looks like cheap shiny lego bricks from some point in the 1980's. When is there going to be parity with the South of Wiltshire.

Why couldn't the Wiltshire Records Office have been incorporated into this refurbishment?

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
Why couldn't the Wiltshire Records Office have been incorporated into this refurbishment?

Umm.... because it's been in a spanking state of the art new building in Chippenham for the past few years?

Orangecrush wrote:
The refurb and rebuild of County Hall including this Library has cost £24M and provides space for up to 1200 Wiltshire council employees. Bourne Hill in Salisbury cost £18M and only houses 500 employees has no cafe or Library. The building in Salisbury costs so much more because it is substantially higher in quality and design and was designed by architects of worldwide renown using the very highest quality materials. Yet again Trowbridge has ended up with the worst deal and a cheap half job refurb. The front of this building looks like cheap shiny lego bricks from some point in the 1980's. When is there going to be parity with the South of Wiltshire.

The first person I have ever come across who thinks it a good idea to divert money from front line services to spend it on council accommodation!

Hi. Any chance you could direct me to where the picture of my daughter that was on this story earlier went before this giant council worker took center stage?

My co workers saw it and by the time I looked, she had been usurped by that 9 foot lady.

I thought it was an ordinary sized woman with some hobbits!

On a more serious note, I visited the new library today and was very impressed. The place is light, spacious, has plenty of books, many of which looked new, lots of computer terminals, talking books, seating areas etc. It must be several times the size of the old library. Also, there is a cafe area should you need refreshment.

elfwyn wrote:

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
Why couldn't the Wiltshire Records Office have been incorporated into this refurbishment?

Umm.... because it's been in a spanking state of the art new building in Chippenham for the past few years?

Umm... I am aware of where the Record Office is elfwyn, which is the reason why I asked why couldn't it have been incorporated into the new County Hall refurbishment. A touch of measured thinking may have led you to the realisation that I was questioning why the Records Office wasn't incorporated into the refurbishment at the planning stage, prior to its relocation to Chippenham

Grumpyoldgit99 wrote:

Orangecrush wrote:
The refurb and rebuild of County Hall including this Library has cost £24M and provides space for up to 1200 Wiltshire council employees. Bourne Hill in Salisbury cost £18M and only houses 500 employees has no cafe or Library. The building in Salisbury costs so much more because it is substantially higher in quality and design and was designed by architects of worldwide renown using the very highest quality materials. Yet again Trowbridge has ended up with the worst deal and a cheap half job refurb. The front of this building looks like cheap shiny lego bricks from some point in the 1980's. When is there going to be parity with the South of Wiltshire.

The first person I have ever come across who thinks it a good idea to divert money from front line services to spend it on council accommodation!

Did I say anything about diverting money from front line services? There are many other ways to pay for a high quality building. My point was that there should be fairness between North and South. If the people in South Wiltshire get an outstanding building that has won many awards why does Trowbridge get this shoddy cheap mess?

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:

elfwyn wrote:

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
Why couldn't the Wiltshire Records Office have been incorporated into this refurbishment?

Umm.... because it's been in a spanking state of the art new building in Chippenham for the past few years?

Umm... I am aware of where the Record Office is elfwyn, which is the reason why I asked why couldn't it have been incorporated into the new County Hall refurbishment. A touch of measured thinking may have led you to the realisation that I was questioning why the Records Office wasn't incorporated into the refurbishment at the planning stage, prior to its relocation to Chippenham

I did in fact suspect you were making an oblique comment about that. The fact remains that the old Record Office was in a terrible state - I remember strategically placed buckets above the documents to catch drips from the leaking roof, and about eight or nine years ago the Council was told that it had to build a new home for the archives as soon as possible, or have them forcibly relocated to London. So work on the History Centre started in 2005 and it was opened in early in 2007 - long before the refurbishment of County Hall was put forward. However much you might want it to be magically relocated to Trowbridge, it's in Chippenham now for the foreseeable future, and you might as well accept the fact, rather than indulge in pointless wishful thinking.

elfwyn wrote:

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:

elfwyn wrote:

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
Why couldn't the Wiltshire Records Office have been incorporated into this refurbishment?

Umm.... because it's been in a spanking state of the art new building in Chippenham for the past few years?

Umm... I am aware of where the Record Office is elfwyn, which is the reason why I asked why couldn't it have been incorporated into the new County Hall refurbishment. A touch of measured thinking may have led you to the realisation that I was questioning why the Records Office wasn't incorporated into the refurbishment at the planning stage, prior to its relocation to Chippenham

I did in fact suspect you were making an oblique comment about that. The fact remains that the old Record Office was in a terrible state - I remember strategically placed buckets above the documents to catch drips from the leaking roof, and about eight or nine years ago the Council was told that it had to build a new home for the archives as soon as possible, or have them forcibly relocated to London. So work on the History Centre started in 2005 and it was opened in early in 2007 - long before the refurbishment of County Hall was put forward. However much you might want it to be magically relocated to Trowbridge, it's in Chippenham now for the foreseeable future, and you might as well accept the fact, rather than indulge in pointless wishful thinking.

Umm...just to let you know elfin... I don't believe in magic, I have never not accepted the fact, and I haven't indulged in any wishful thinking, pointless or otherwise.

It's all nice and swanky and all that, does a good job, but when are we going to find the money to fund an Emergency Duty Team that can provide somethings even close to resembling a legitimate service.

Orangecrush wrote:

Grumpyoldgit99 wrote:

Orangecrush wrote:
The refurb and rebuild of County Hall including this Library has cost £24M and provides space for up to 1200 Wiltshire council employees. Bourne Hill in Salisbury cost £18M and only houses 500 employees has no cafe or Library. The building in Salisbury costs so much more because it is substantially higher in quality and design and was designed by architects of worldwide renown using the very highest quality materials. Yet again Trowbridge has ended up with the worst deal and a cheap half job refurb. The front of this building looks like cheap shiny lego bricks from some point in the 1980's. When is there going to be parity with the South of Wiltshire.

The first person I have ever come across who thinks it a good idea to divert money from front line services to spend it on council accommodation!

Did I say anything about diverting money from front line services? There are many other ways to pay for a high quality building. My point was that there should be fairness between North and South. If the people in South Wiltshire get an outstanding building that has won many awards why does Trowbridge get this shoddy cheap mess?

£24 million is a new interpretation of the word cheap that I have not come across before.

"£24 million is a new interpretation of the word cheap that I have not come across before."

Yet another misinterpretation by the grumpy one.

Popped in to visit today, good to see so many people visiting, all looks reasonable but £24m and the Library was very hot there's no cooling in there, did pity the staff!