St
Margaret's Institute
Community Centre
30
Polstead
Road, Oxford
Property
….
Under the
terms of the 999-year lease, the PCC and through it, the Management
Committee
is responsible for the maintenance of the complete fabric, fixtures and
fittings of the entire building and grounds in which it stands.
An extensive programme of dilapidation works was completed in 2002. The Management Committee put in place a
prudent
maintenance policy. Appropriate provision for routine property
maintenance was made in the budget. Our normal programme of
maintenance included
the following measures:
- remedial
work to
prevent damp penetration under the hall floor, which had caused the
floor
surface to rise in places.
- drainage
work to
clear standing water from the west side passage.
- remedial
work to
prevent surface water entering the cellar.
- replacement
of
obsolete electrical switchgear and mountings in the cellar.
- repairs
to the
cellar staircase supports.
- refurbishment and insulation works to the upper floor flat
This work was completed in 2004
Alongside our
Lease appeal, we ran a property improvement appeal, to enable us to
completely upgrade the facilities and provide a community centre fit
for the 21st Century.
Phase 1 of this
programme of improvements focused on improving our Disabled Access
arrangements to comply with legislation and work to conserve energy. These included:
- Disabled
Access, with a new ramp to the West Front Room
- Toilet
alterations in the Hall, to provide a new disabled toilet on this
level, and improve the existing facilities.
- A
Hearing Loop for use in the Hall.
- Partial
insulation of the Hall roofspace.
This work was completed in 2004
Phase 2 commenced simultaneously with the launch of the lease appeal and included the following projects:
- Replacement of the front room floor
surfaces with sprung floors
- Conversion
of cupboard
space to kitchenette in the west front room
- Complete
upgrade of the main Kitchen, including cookers and heating services
- Improvements
to the toilets in the main building
- Insulation
of, and provision of appropriate double glazed windows in the hall
- Alterations
to
internal doorways to improve disabled access
- Restoration
of opening leaded lights on the south elevation
- refurbishment of hall floor
This work was completed in 2005
Phase
3 coincided with the completion of our successful appeals, during which
we raised £400,000 to purchase the 999-year lease, and over £110,000
for the refurbishments. These projects included:
- new exterior gates
- new notice boards
- replacement external doors
- Purchase of digital projector and portable sound system
Phase 3 continued into December 2008 with the following projects
- improvements to leaded windows
- cleaning of the south facade and provision of new exterior lighting
- installation of the Humphrey Carpenter memorial window in the hall
- purchase of replacement chairs for the front room (suitable for the Limes Club)
- replacement upright piano (second-hand)
This work was completed in January 2009
Back to Index