Work starts to refurbish fire station

The long awaited transformation of a former Shropshire fire station into an exhibition centre is finally under way thanks to charitable donations.

The £139,000 scheme to refurbish the premises in Shifnal started yesterday.

The work at the Shrewsbury Road site will be carried out for Shifnal Town Council by Bilston-based William Gough & Sons Ltd and is expected to be completed by September this year.

It is being assisted by The Veolia Environmental Trust, which awarded a grant of £46,550 through The Landfill Communities Fund.

The fire station, which is in the town’s conservation area, was built in the 1930s but has been redundant for more than 20 years.

The work will include the installation of an insulated roof, a glazed foyer, a disabled access toilet, a new kitchen, an archive store and gas central heating.It is also hoped that oak panelling from the adjacent former Magistrates’ Court building, which is planned to be demolished to make way for social housing, can also be installed.

Shifnal Town Clerk, Peter Hurlstone, welcomed the start of work.

“The Town Council is extremely grateful to The Veolia Environmental Trust for its financial support which, together with the council’s own funds, has enabled the refurbishment to go forward,” he said.

The executive director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Margaret Cobbold, said: “This exciting project will have a double benefit - it will result in both the preservation of an historic building and the creation of a new community facility for the people of Shifnal.”