Over €730,000 the cost of making Trim Town Hall safe once more

Repairs to Trim Town Hall will cost almost three-quarters of a million euro if it is to stage public performances again, but the local town council does not have the money to carry them out. In a letter to Trim councillors last week, town clerk Brian Murphy said that following complaints and an inspection by the fire officer, the entire building had been surveyed and recommended works to be carried out would mean a bill of €731,000, which the council was not in a position to fund. "Due to the present poor condition of certain parts of the building such as the main hall and the Focus office, these areas are no longer safe for use and pose a danger to staff and members of the public using them," the report reads. "The council is not currently in a financial position to carry out these works and is still awaiting a response from Fáilte Ireland in relation to the application to refurbish the town hall. However, such funds, if made available, may not solve the problems that have subsequently arisen since last year." A large number of members of Trim Drama Group, Trim Musical Society and other groups gathered at last week's monthly meeting of Trim Town Council to voice their concerns over the matter and the manner in which the news was relayed to them - on foot of a request to book the hall for a performance. "The council has had to take the short-term decision to curtail the use of the public assembly area," the letter goes on. "The works required are mainly due to poor construction of the original building combined with the bulding's present age. "As you will see, some of the repair works required would be more expensive than rebuilding (the) structure from new in parts. This, however, would not be advisable as the present layout for these areas is not practical and would not comply with current design and regulations for public buildings. "As you can see from (the report) above, the state of the hall and ancillary buildings has deteriorated to such an extent that we may have to make an unpopular decision on the usage of the town hall." It said the council is willing to meet and work with any of the groups that currently use the facility to work on an alternative viable option. The letter from the town clerk on the fire officer's report further notes that "this approximate costing does not include design costs, tendering costs, supervision costs, contractors' preliminary costs". The June report, which has been seen by the Meath Chronicle, was sent to Trim Town Council from senior assistant chief fire officer Barry Quinn on 16th June this year and lists a litany of problems in need of repair, chief amongst which is the main hall roof, which needs €220,000 of work. "This area is at present covered by an asbestos sheeted roof supported by a light steel truss structure underneath," the report says. "At present, this roof is leaking in several locations. This roof requires controlled removal and specialised disposal of the asbestos sheeting, removal of the steel supporting roof structure; it is then recommended to replace this roof." The stage area "requires a complete new roof as the present concrete roof is leaking" and a "600mm overhang to the conrete roof is dangerous as the concrete has deteriorated and is falling down in pieces over a walkway, which is part of the fire escape route". Another €65,000 needs to be spent on damp-proofing and insulation as "no part of the existing structure is insulated and many areas are showing signs of damp and water ingress". The entire building requires €25,000 of re-wiring and the toilets need €45,000 worth of work "as the dated sanitary ware needs to be replaced as large quantities of treated water is being wasted and the present areas are dangerous to difficult to maintain". The second-highest cost is to the "main flat roof over two-storey front offices and tourist offices", which amounts to €190,000 for a "leaking roof in very poor condition". "The existing roof structure is not repairable and will need to be removed," the report adds. Cllr Donall O'Brien's motion that the town council would endeavor to help provide the groups of the town with a functioning, safe and usable town hall was unanimously supported.