DATE: 12 SEPTEMBER 2006 -  PROGRESS on the £8m Royal Hall restoration project is going well and Harrogate Borough Council has revealed that more restoration work can be carried out than had been originally anticipated.

 

Head of Property Management for Harrogate Borough Council, Martin Weeks has vast experience of major construction projects, but he says that planning this restoration has been one of the most difficult he has worked on:  yet the project is now going well and this is down to having a high quality design team and contractor, the right contract strategy and all the investigative work which was undertaken.  There is a real partnership between the council, its project team and the contractor HBG, all working together for a successful outcome.

 

"This is an old beautiful building with a lot of things waiting in the wings to go wrong", said Martin.  "However, the council was insistent that whatever work we could achieve on this restoration could never go beyond the £8m that had been put into the pot by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the council.  So we had to do a lot of work before we ever got to the stage where we could let this 61 week contract."

 

Risk assessments had identified that most of the unknown problems should have come to light during the first four to five months of the contract.

 

"The highest risk period has now nearly passed", added Martin.  "The extensive investigation of the structure earlier on has paid dividends.  We don't expect to find any major hidden defects now and the contingency sums we set aside at the start of the contract are being used at a lower rate than we had anticipated.  This is good news because it means that within the capped budget of £8 million we should be able to achieve a bigger restoration than we originally thought."

 

After four months of work on site, progress on the restoration contract continues to be good and council leader, Councillor Mike Gardner, is pleased with the way the contract is sticking to its timetable and that financially things are progressing well. 

 

He said:  "We agreed to a carefully managed project which meant that some large sections of the work were deferred until we had confidence that we could afford to add them back in.  A large proportion of the works that were being held back in this way, to make sure we stayed within budget, are now being released as the project team is gaining in certainty that there are no large hidden problems.  With the Restoration Trust's majestic efforts on fund-raising, which to-date stand a little under £900,000, we are also looking at a broader scope of work.  However, as we are doing more than we originally planned, we may not finish the contract at the original anticipated time.  But for once, delayed completion means good news.  The Royal Hall will probably re-open in late 2007." ENDS

 

 

0013 Basement - Construction work is underway to waterproof and stabilise the structure. This will be the location of the new ladies toilets.

 

0046 Scaffolding in the main auditorium to provide access for paint scrapings to be taken from the original ceiling.  This is needed to establish the original decoration colours to ensure authentic redecoration.   Floor protection and dust screens together with dust extraction systems are in place.

 

0027 Ambulatory following demolition of this structurally unsafe area, work is underway to provide new dressing rooms at the lower level and restore the conservatory and ambulatory at the higher level.  The ambulatory is the corridor encircling the building and this was originally used for 'promenading'.  Reconstruction of this facility is a key feature for restoring the architectural integrity of the building.

 

 

In addition to the £8million allocated to the core scheme, (£2million from Harrogate Borough Council and £6million from the Heritage Lottery Fund) the Royal Hall Restoration Trust is also raising funds to make the Royal Hall an attractive and inspiring performance venue once again.  To achieve this, the Trust's target is to raise an additional £1.8 million to reinstate a number of important works that are currently omitted from the core programme on funding grounds.

 

HLF's substantial grant, along with Harrogate Borough Council's contribution, will allow the rescue of this building, which has been unused for some time. 

 

The Royal Hall in Harrogate is one of the district's favourite landmarks.  This Frank Matcham building is England's last surviving Kursaal and is steeped in history as well as being an important community resource.