Oswestry Town Council set to award £180k contract to fix north Shropshire youth centre's leaky roof
Work to fix the leaking roof of a run-down north Shropshire youth centre is set to get under way later this year.
The Centre, on Oak Street, was intended to be a state-of-the-art hub for youth services in Oswestry when it was built by Shropshire Council in 2012.
However, the building had fallen into disrepair before it was handed over to Oswestry Town Council last year - despite being less than 12 years old.
Oswestry Town Council took over the running of the "under-used" building in September, having been in negotiations with Shropshire Council about repairs for the previous two years.
Now, the authority has gone out to tender for a contractor to fix the building's leaky roof, which has caused water damage to ceilings and walls.
A tender document advertised via the town council's website confirmed that the contract was worth £180,000 and works, which include stripping and replacement of existing materials and construction of new "over-roofing" in some areas, would run from October this year.
"Oswestry Town Council are upgrading the roofing and associated works at The Centre building and are seeking costed proposals from suitably qualified companies to supply and install new roofing to the building, for which the town council are responsible," said documents submitted with the tender proposal.
"Oswestry Town Council is undertaking this work in order to improve facilities for the town’s young people."
Announcing their decision to take ownership of the building in September 2024, Oswestry Town Council said it had set aside £50,000 in the first year to cover initial running costs for the building - and a further £250,000 to cover the cost of putting right the defects.
Overall management of the building was turned over to a not-for-profit foundation this year, who signed a lease with Oswestry Town Council in March, saying it intended to use the building as a hub for youth and community wellbeing activities.
The property, which also houses food programme OsNosh and the St John Ambulance, is set to remain occupied during the works, which are scheduled to be completed by January.
The deadline for submissions for the tender expires at midday on September 22.
