Derelict GWR railway building could cost £30m to reopen

The building has been closed for over 30 years

A derelict Grade II* listed building in Swindon built to provide education for workers of the Great Western Railway could cost up to £30m to reopen.

There have been calls to save the Mechanics' Institute in Emlyn Square, which has been vacant for decades.

Heritage Action Zone project officer Karen Phinister said estimated costs had gone up from £23m pre-pandemic.

She added: "It's a very versatile building and it should be enough to underpin use by the community."

A report by regeneration experts Fourth Street, before the Covid-19 pandemic, said the building would best suit a mixture of business, conference and event use, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

'Crazily busy'

Ms Phinister, who was reporting to Swindon Borough Council on progress to regenerate Swindon's Railway village, said getting the Mechanic's Institute back into some sort of use is key.

"Bringing the Mechanics' Institute back into use would make the whole area safer and better to use," said Ms Phinister.

"But heritage experts are crazily busy post-pandemic and construction costs have gone up."

The council does not currently own the building and may start a compulsory purchase order to buy the institute from its current owner, Forefront Estate, after a condition report is completed.

The building was built by Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel for railwaymen in the 1840s.