Warminster Old Town Hall

' gallery (pictured below) upstairs, this building has the hallmarks of a grander age than our own. But if we are to recapture some of Warminster's past glory then we, the present generation of townsfolk, will have to come together put in the work and effort, and indeed money, to restore the building - the town's second most important after the Minster church. Those who argue for spending huge sums on the Assembly Rooms really will seem quite bonkers once the populace has the opportunity to view the cleaned up interior on 10 and 11 September during the heritage weekend. The team from WETS entered the building on Sunday 23 August to make a start on the work of cleaning up the mess left inside by previous occupants and the pigeons in preparation for the public viewing. Thanks to the efforts of George Jolley and Chris March, who have been working on this project with the Civic Trust, things are going forward with local thballroombusinesses Warminster Glass and Northwood both making useful sponsorship offers to help in maintaining momentum. Steve Dancey said: ''For me this opportunity to get a full picture was thgalleryan eyeopener.
''I had previously been inside the building to visit the offices at the front and cells below when it was known as the Turnkey restaurant.
''But I had never been upstairs to the ballroom. (pictured above)
''This is a splendid room which could be restored to provide Warminster with a facility of which it could be justly proud.''


NEW ERA FOR TOWN HALL

THE 'stain on the town's heart' in Warminster is set to be restored as the well respected and experienced Civic Trust and the Preservation Trust joins forces to restore the Town Hall to its former glory. "This is the landmark building in the town," said Civic Trust chairman Michael Heaton. "It is entwined in the history of the town," Mr. Heaton told the annual general meeting last night. "The building is looking particularly shabby. "It is a perfectly salvageable building. It is do-able." He explained that other towns had done it.
''It was the open forum meeting that said the Civic Trust should be dealing with it." Heaton. "I would like us to have a general discussion. "Warminster Civic Trust should launch a public subscription campaign to buy it for a trust to look after." The history of the building was briefly outlined and the current valuation was put at 'around £350,000'. "Sounds a lot but a lot of you are living in a house worth more than that" said Mr. "Look at what has been achieved by the Preservation Trust and Eliabeth Collyns." Since the open forum meeting last year the civic trust officers have been waiting to see what other organisations were doing. "The town council does not want anything to do with the town hall," said Cllr. Chris March. "It is for us people to decide." The members raised questions about the work of the Warminster and Villages Development Trust. They had been approached months ago after the open forum and at that time were looking into the issue. "We have waited and went to see them a fortnight ago," explained Mr. town h cleanHeaton. "Even before we could make a suggestion we had our heads ripped off by one their most vocal members!"
Dewey House resonated to applause after one person rose to speak passionately,
"I have recently returned to the town after 20 years away," said Victoria Coombes. "I feel ashamed. The fact it has become such an eyesore is a disgrace. "I have three proposals. A meeting for the whole town to put suggestions. We form a Friends of the old town hall and the (Warminster people) website will back it." Cllr. Rob Fryer said 'remember negotiations with the receiver' but the meeting still went ahead to vote in favour of organising a public meeting
'If that agrees then a public subscription scheme of pledges will be launched and the Victorian Society and the Lottery Heritage Fund and others will be approached,' was then successfully proposed with Cllr. Pip Ridout voicing her abstention. Paul Macdonald immediately put his hand up to catch the attention of the chairman and said.: "I pledge £100." This prompted several others to do the same. "Thank you," said Mr. "George Jolley has already pledged £100."

*The words 'Town Hall a stain on the town's heart' are used in the Civic Pride section of the vision document on visionforwarminster.co.uk which launched the public outcry over the state of the building over two years ago. WHY SHOULD WE BE LEFT WITH THIS? Why should the bunch of people running the town council be allowed to waste 800,000 pounds on moving their desks to a white elephant building (the Assembly Rooms)? The Town Hall building needs to become the home of Warminster Town Council - it would have so many knock-on benefits and would hugely restore the morale of the town and uplift the whole historic town centre. Our town hall should be a symbol of the town's strength not a badge of its decrepitude. Other towns have taken over their town halls - Romsey and Corsham both within the past 10 years. Of course those who don't like this idea (Why???) say it has never been used as a town hall. No of course it hasn't as town councils have only existed since 1973 and by then the blinkered blitherers had taken over our civic affairs. BUT the Town Hall has been an important civic building in past decades and is the proper home for the town council as it assumes greater powers. The public view is clear - they don't want the downmarket Assembly Rooms as the main civic building but has greater aspiration for this historic market town.