Ed James reports:
October 9th
Stephen Gamper (the structural engineer) had a good look around the Hall yesterday afternoon with Dave Lee. His initial view differed from the surveyor in so far as he thought that we might be able to preserve the building through remedial works – possibly by securing the ceiling to the wall parallel to the road or through buttressing – but would need to carry out further investigations into the current integrity of the building.
This will require Dave exposing further sections of the Hall – all of which will hopefully be carried out in the next few weeks.
Once inspected, Stephen will report back as regards the feasibility of repairing the Hall and what method(s) he would recommend.
Obviously, if this is a possibility, it will still be hugely expensive and we will have to weigh up all options.
The Hall will remain closed for the time being.
Previous Update:
We had a surveyor appraise the Village Hall on September 23rd (in advance of the roof repairs) and he was not happy with the state of the roof and walls – he basically said both the roof and walls had spread and the roof could fall in in adverse weather conditions or similar. Further, he said we should get a structural engineer to properly assess the situation and to advise how to remedy the situation (if indeed we can).
Having spoken with the trustees, Committee and Insurers we have decided to stop all activities in the Hall until a structural engineer has made an assessment.
The Club will remain open.
You can read the Surveyor’s initial report here. It’s rather alarming reading!