An historic building in a Leicestershire town has been handed back to the district council following a £5.75 million refurbishment, thanks to contractor Willmott Dixon and public sector construction procurement specialists Scape.
The Symington Building in Market Harborough, which started life as a corset factory more than 100 years ago, is a Grade II listed building, which has been transformed into a cultural and heritage hub.
The building houses Harborough District Council’s offices, an integrated library and museum as well as shops and local businesses.
Paul Bremner, the lead for assets finance at Harborough District Council, said: “It’s important that we provide the best facilities and services we can for the community, while also delivering value for money for local people.
“That’s why I’m so pleased that the construction work has gone so smoothly and come in on budget and ahead of schedule.”
Scape Chief Executive, Mark Robinson, said: “This project has seen the refurbishment of an historic building which is of great importance to the people of Market Harborough, creating a new hub which will provide high quality facilities to benefit the town and its residents for many years to come.
“The construction work for the project was carried out for our client through Scape’s procurement service. This meant the procurement process had already been taken care of on the council’s behalf, saving them time and money and giving them the certainty the project would be completed on time and on budget.”
The original corset factory was taken over by Courtaulds Group in 1967, before a number of its workrooms were converted to offices and sold to the council in 1980. Following the closure of the factory ten years later, the building became home to council staff and the Harborough Museum and library.
Nick Heath, East Midlands Operations Director at Willmott Dixon, said: “The Symington Building has a rich heritage and we have worked hard throughout this project to ensure its sympathetic refurbishment.
“We have been able to create excellent facilities for local residents, while maintaining the character of the Symington Building which was hugely important.”
Scape is a local authority controlled company, based in Nottingham, whose shareholders are Derby City, Derbyshire County, Gateshead, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire County and Warwickshire County Councils. The company’s objectives are to bring economy and efficiency to the whole building process – including for new buildings and refurbishment projects – and it achieves this through the development of standard designs and strategic procurement arrangements.
