The Old School - Development
As you may be aware the Parish Council have been undertaking refurbishment in the Old School building that is opposite the Village Hall. For many years this building was leased by the Council to the Romper Room as a nursery school but they ceased trading in August 2022. Since then, despite attempts to find someone to rent it, the building has remained empty and unused.
So earlier this year the Council decided to refurbish it for two purposes :-
- We felt that it was time that we had a permanent Parish Office. In the past our Parish Clerks have worked from their own home but the parish trappings and possessions made this increasingly difficult for the personal space that it was taking up. Coupled with the increasing activity within the Council, and the appointment of a new Parish Clerk, this was the ideal time to get things done.
- We wanted to create a Meeting Room that could be hired by individuals, groups, clubs and societies at a very reasonable rate where they could hold their meetings, craft fairs etc.
So, in late summer we started the transition by creating a glass panelled office for the Clerk (see photograph). This is a self-contained unit that sits apart from the rest of the room. We then set about making sure that the rest of the building compliant with current Fire and Health & Safety Regulations and is accessible for people with restricted mobility via a portable ramp. We installed new fire doors both at the entrance to the main room and at the emergency exit. We then revamped the two toilets, turning one of them into a fully compliant Disabled Toilet with alarms etc. We also converted the lights into a PIR movement activated system so that they turn off when the rooms are empty. The building is fully wifi connected and the wifi is free of charge. We are currently having to go through the NKDC administrative process of applying for “change of use” from a school to a public meeting space.
The room is now equipped with 24 chairs and 5 large rectangular tables which we feel will be suitable for a variety of user’s configurations. There is a full electric heating system. We have also installed a large 72” T.V. screen that is fully interactive. This is a touch screen which can be written on, it connects to the internet for websites and Youtube, computers and phones can be connected to show their interactive content on the big screen etc – there are probably other things that it will do that we don’t yet know about. This is all available to any hirers of the building. There is also a small kitchen that is equipped for hot drinks and the serving of cakes and snacks. Hot food preparation is not allowed. There is a mini fridge, hot water heater, a 20 litre “urn”, crockery and cutlery for drinks and snacks and facilities for washing up.
We hope to get the building “commissioned” and in use by the beginning of March 2024 after it has a good intensive clean and it could then be available for bookings from early March 2024 onwards. We intend to hold a Saturday Open Morning as soon as we can in order for people to come and see what we have to offer – details to follow on Facebook.
The maximum number of people for the room will be limited to 24. It will be available to use 7 days a week from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. The Council are not intending to make a profit from the rentals as it is intended as a Community resource; we just need to meet our costs of heating, cleaning, maintenance etc. At this stage we envisage charging £8 per hour for use of the whole facility with a maximum charge of £50 for a full day. Actual prices will be confirmed before the Open Day together with details of how to book the building. Booking can be done by accessing an online booking website that will show ‘real-time’ availability throughout the year. Further details of this will follow in January. If you have any enquiries about this, please contact the Parish Clerk on parishclerk@cranwellpc.co.uk.
In particular we would like to encourage new leisure groups to start up in our community that could meet at this new venue – if you have a particular interest in something – why not try to find other like-minded individuals to form a group or society ?