I am pleased to report that significant progress has been made on the St Endellion church hall and we can see it taking shape and hope to have the building watertight in the very near future. However, we have suffered a delay which was outside of our control. This was the late delivery of the main steel beams to support the new roof area. Ordered from a local firm, they were due in January but only arrived on site on the 28th February. At this point we estimate that this has delayed the project by at least 4 weeks.

Budget

Our overall funding cash flow is in line with our expectations and almost complete. The only amount outstanding is the £8,000 final instalment from the Arts Council. This can only be drawn down once the hall is complete and will be used against items such as the retention, chairs, office equipment, etc.

Whilst we are behind our timetable due to the delay in the steel delivery and have incurred some unforeseen costs, at this time I believe that the total cost will not exceed the funds available in the hall fund.

We are very grateful for the generosity and forbearance of all those individuals and grant giving bodies who have donated to the project.

Construction

After tenders were issued to four local contractors, a contract was signed with Andrews and Mills Construction on 1 November 2018.

Work on site commenced on 5th November 2018. The removal of the trees at the rear of the hall was one of the first jobs completed – but not without unexpected expenditure. We discovered a number of huge buried stumps from trees which had been cut down at some time in the past. These would have interfered with the foundations for the hall extension and they had to go.

Root protection measures for the trees covered by the Tree Protection Order were put in place as instructed by CC Tree officer. A bat licence has been obtained and an ecologist attended the stripping of the roof in accordance with the mitigation measures in the environmental report.

The hall has been completely stripped out – toilets, kitchen, flooring, roof, electrics and plumbing. Foundations for both the Hall and new side extensions have been completed; their concrete slabs have been poured; and the block work walls for both have been constructed.

The Building Inspector has visited the site to inspect the works. This has resulted in two extra costs; he has specified that, due to its size, the hall must have a second emergency exit, and that we must install radon traps.

In the main hall blockwork is virtually complete and the steel girders forming the gable end and roof support have been installed. Rafters have been put in place and we can at last get a feeling for the shape of the finished hall. Battens are on site and we expect these to be fitted imminently, together with the felting that will make the roof waterproof. This is a vital step – once the building is water tight the first fix of electrical and plumbing can begin.

The partition stud work of the new bar servery and storeroom and the canopy that will cover the kitchen servery window into the carpark area have been installed.

We have sourced recycled Delabole slate for the roof and this is now on site. We expect the supply and fitting of the slate roof will be within budget.

The side extension (which will house the toilets and office), has been constructed and new drainage for the toilets has been installed. The locally sourced slate cladding for is virtually 100% complete. The roof is waterproof with the roof lights installed.

  • We have completed specifications for:
  • the detailed electrical design
  • sanitary ware
  • colour choices for the cubicles, flooring and splash backs
  • internal and external doors
  • servery shutters
  • the kitchen design (which is within budget)
  • Quotations for the aluminium windows and doors have been received.

Future Management of the Hall

We are grateful that the PCC has formed an interim management committee which is actively working on plans for the management and operation of the Hall, with a view to bringing it into use for its intended purposes with the minimum possible delay following completion of the works.
Mark Robinson, on behalf of the Hall Project Team