£500,000 to cure rising damp

RISING damp in civic centre meeting rooms will be tackled during three months of construction and refurbishment work costing £500,000.

The walls and floors of the Crompton suite and Lees suite meeting rooms at either end of the reception area have been left soaked by rain water.

A design flaw, which went unnoticed when the rooms were built in the 1980s, means rain water seeps underneath the damp-proof membrane and soaks the walls.

Construction work to replace walls and floors, and an overhaul of the heating and ventilation system, begins on Monday.

Meetings scheduled for those rooms will be moved to either the council chamber or Henshaw House.

Building work will cost an estimated £350,000 and refurbishment work will cost £150,000, with funds available through the council’s capital programme.

Claire Fish, chief of staff, said: “The damp went relatively unnoticed from some time.

“We want to get it done as quickly as possible to reduce inconvenience.”

Graham Dixon, facilities manager, said: “We tried a number of interim measures always knowing that we would have to make a major investment to stop it.

“That time is now, we need to get it sorted.”

The Rochdale Road reception will also be transformed with a central reception desk and two waiting areas, one with wireless access.

Steps leading up to the Rochdale Road reception will be gated off at four points to tackle anti-social behaviour, although council staff will be able to access the area with swipe cards.

The council is also looking into ways of preserving the tiled floor mosaic in the reception area.

The works programme is set to finish on September 30.

Jackie Stanton, deputy leader, said: “We are absolutely determined to bring it in on budget.

“It is enabling us to provide an enhanced service to customers and partners and at the same time think of our staff.

“They are going to be working in far better conditions.”