20/05/08 - Cllr Tomlinson, Date Set For Opening Of New Central Library

DATE SET FOR OPENING OF NEW CENTRAL LIBRARY

Swindon’s new and award-winning £10million Central Library will open its doors to the public on 20 October.

The structure of the Regent Circus building is now almost complete, leaving the remaining five months for decorating, fitting out of the interior, and paving work around the outside. The site hoardings will shortly be removed.

Construction work began in January 2007, marking the end of the portable buildings which served as the town’s main library for nearly 30 years.

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Swindon Borough Council Cabinet member for Leisure, Culture and Recreation, says: “Our old Central Library with its temporary buildings was an ever-increasing embarrassment to the town, and we pledged that we would give the public a library we could all be proud of.

“This major project is on time and on budget, and we’re absolutely confident that we’ll meet the opening date on the 20^th of October. I think when people finally get chance to experience the building for themselves they’ll be very impressed with what we’ve created.

”It sets the standard we are aiming to achieve for whole town centre regeneration over the next few years.”

The library, which has been designed in-house by the council’s architecture team, won a prestigious national environmental award from the Building Research Establishment last year.

Among its green features are solar-powered water heating, natural ventilation, and the use of rainwater for flushing toilets and watering plants. The new building has been designed to blend sympathetically with the adjoining Victorian-eraTown Hall, which is being renovated as part of the work.

The central library moved to its current temporary location in the Paramount Building on the corner of Princes Street and Beckhampton Street in June 2006.