Work starts on Rotherham's civic showpiece

WORK started this week on the council’s new showpiece Civic Offices–one of the key buildings in the re-shaping of the town centre.

On Monday investigation work started on the former Guest and Chrimes site that fronts Main Street and Don Street in Rotherham town centre.

Evans Regeneration Investments Ltd, part of Evans Property Group, are developing the site for the authority resulting in a three-block building each with a different height.

The building will be leased to the authority to house all town centre-based staff.

The Rotherham Register Office will also be housed in the building, which will also be home to the Customer Service Centre and a public cafe.

The building has been designed to reflect the history of the site, where the screw-down tap was first invented and then manufactured, and will be clad in red sandstone with a brass finish to the metal windows.

There will be car parking spaces for both staff and visitors, over 140 secure cycle spaces and a number of motorcycle spaces.

Modern and functional, the new building will allow the authority to free up several other council offices around the town, some of which are in disrepair and require major investments, such as re-wiring.

Site preparation work should be comp

leted by the end of January when the actual build will start. The aim is to get the building occupied by the end of 2011.

Council leader Cllr Roger Stone, said he was delighted to see work finally start on the site and added: "It has taken a lot of hard work to get to this stage, so I am really pleased to see the preparatory work begin.

“This is an important step for the authority because once the building is completed it will allow us to release more important redevelopment sites, adding to the on-going renaissance of Rotherham Town Centre."