Construction at Melksham House site underway

Construction work is now underway on Melksham House, which will see the historic building become a workspace and multi-purpose community facility in the heart of the town.

Formal construction work began today (5 September), and is being carried out by Beard Construction. This follows a period of preparatory work that has taken place at the site over the last six weeks.

Work is expected to be completed by winter 2023. Efforts are being made to keep any disruption to a minimum and the work taking place will not impact the recently opened Melksham Community Campus.

At the end of 2021, Wiltshire Council's Cabinet approved a total £4.8m of funding to refurbish and redevelop the Melksham House site, as well as demolish the Blue Pool.

When complete, the refurbishment work will provide flexible office and meeting room spaces, and the community hall at the rear of the building will be restored to create multi-use activity spaces. The improvements will include modern sustainable technologies such as LED lighting, air source heat pumps, photovoltaics and electric vehicle charging points. Planning consent was granted in October 2021.

Cllr Phil Alford, Cabinet Member for Strategic Assets, said:

"Following the really successful opening of Melksham Community Campus, we're pleased to see another key Melksham project gather momentum. We believe the outcome will prove to be a valuable and flexible space for the business community and residents in an accessible central location, right next to the campus, which is bringing lots of people into that area.

"At this time of national uncertainty due to the cost of living and rising inflation, projects such as this will support the local economy and help it thrive, as set out in our Business Plan missions.

"We know that this particular location has seen a lot of building work and activity over the last couple of years, so together with our construction partners we are very mindful to keep disruption to an absolute minimum for local people."

Wiltshire Council will continue to work with Melksham Town Council to ensure the future use of sites such as the former Blue Pool and library locations forms part of an overall strategy for the town.