March 2006 - Plans for a New Church Hall in Blandford - Page 3

Why Can't We Renovate the Old Hall ? The Church Hall is a Grade 2 listed building and the Church respects the need to maintain and repair the Heritage Buildings of our Town wherever possible. There needs to be a strong argument for replacing the existing building before North Dorset District Council will give permission for it's demolition, but the Church believes that such an argument exists: Firstly, as mentioned above, the expert view is that the hall has reached the end of its working life and the arguments for replacing it far outweigh the arguments to renovate it. Secondly, if we want to renovate the existing building, we will have to dismantle it and remove or replace the vast majority of the original materials. The result would essentially be a "new building", looking like the old one. In reality, the existing building would have disappeared! Thirdly, the existing building is built on several different levels. It takes four steps to get up into the building, as well as steps down into the toilets. To enable the building to conform to the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act would require remodelling of various parts of the building, including a large ramp on the pedestrian part of the car park outside the hall. This is impractical, but even if we could do it, the use of the building would be limited by the existing layout of the hall.

What About The Conservation Issues ? The Hall is a listed building and lies within a Conservation Area which is why the decision to apply for its demolition has not been taken lightly. If permission is given to demolish the hall, then the big question is what would be built in its place. Plans have been drawn up for the replacement building (see opposite) and the aim is that the cladding and roofing of the proposed replacement building would aim to complement the character and appearance of the conservation area. In other words, we're planning to build something which will fit into the Tabernacle in such a way as to benefit it - not spoil it.