Costs of transforming Penrith’s Voreda House into a new headquarters for Eden Council are set to spiral in excess of £4 million.
The district authority’s cabinet last night agreed to approve a revised budget of £4,130,000 for the project which would see a single site being established from which to run council services.
At present, Eden Council is served by two sites at Penrith Town Hall and Mansion House.
An application for the conversion of Mansion House to a hotel is expected within a month and there is a feasibility study exploring options to transform the town hall into a facility for arts, cultural, community and business uses.
With the onset of local government reorganisation, which will create two unitary authorities in Cumbria, there was a need to create a public service hub” which the Voreda House building in Penrith would be able to deliver, last night’s meeting was told.
A tendering process for the construction of the Voreda House scheme is under way and nearing completion.
However, the change to the external treatment of the building as defined by the planning consent has proved to be technically undeliverable from a construction perspective.
“The existing building structure is unable to support the weight of sandstone cladding,” a report to councillors stated.
And additional costs are expected due to inflationary increases in the construction industry and escalating materials prices.
