Kettering's £4.5m gallery and library extension with holes in the roof – leaking cash and leaking water

Dogged by delays, spiralling costs and rows with stakeholders, finally a £4.5m flagship heritage project is set to open under far from ideal circumstances.

Under the working title of the GLaM project, some of Kettering’s most iconic buildings were to be revitalised to ‘improve and maximise the potential’ of the gallery, library and museum and their services.

With the project slimmed down to concentrate resources on Kettering Library and the Alfred East Art Gallery, a modern extension has been built on the Grade II listed buildings.

And although huge issues have been overcome, including needing more money to keep the project on track, there is one more massive problem.

The Collyweston slate roof on the 1904 library that protects a large part of the complex, including portions of the new extension, is crumbling.

Over the winter, buckets have been catching rainwater inside the library building, with shelves being moved to prevent books being damaged.

In the same week that the new Cornerstone sign has been fixed above the entrance and decorators started painting the interior of the library, the original wooden parquet floor has been sanded down and resealed.

In 2012 Northamptonshire County Council spent £250,000 to restore the original wooden parquet flooring, re-open the Sheep Street entrance and update lighting. The Kettering Friends of the Library launched an appeal to pay for restoration work.

Swingeing financial cuts to services by Northamptonshire County Council in 2018 left Kettering Library as one of the council-run services, but money was sought to maximise the use of the building and next door gallery.

A project begun by Kettering Borough Council, with support from Northamptonshire County Council, has now been passed to NNC.

The GLaM/Cornerstone project, part-funded with a £3m grant from the government’s Get Building Fund, was made possible after a successful bid through the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP).

The extension will provide work and exhibition spaces including to supporting start-ups, with support provided by the British Library-led Business and IP Centre (BIPC) Northamptonshire – an area of the existing library given to the dividable room.

Residents can use two new events spaces, a café and outside terrace.

The Alfred East Art Gallery collection has been returned from storage. Gallery walls and floors of the 1913 building have been renovated and security improved.

A spokesman for NNC said: “The project has been incredibly ambitious, and involved connecting a newbuild facility onto buildings that are of historic significance.

"Great progress has been made to bring this part of the project to its conclusion.

"The original proposals, approved by Kettering Borough Council in 2019, for extensive work to the art gallery, did not include improvements to the library roof.

“The council is now exploring bringing forward a further capital proposal to replace the library roof and is working extensively with contractors to find the best solution that will minimise the impact on access to the venues and protect the work that has been completed to date, while any further works are undertaken.

“The library will remain open and we will review the position and provide regular updates regarding opening the overall site, while the capital proposals are considered through the council’s approvals process.”

Cornerstone timeline

2018 – Kettering Borough Council (KBC), owners of Kettering Museum and the Alfred East Art Gallery, and Northamptonshire County Council (NCC), owners of Kettering Library, start discussions setting out the long-term desire to ‘improve and maximise the potential’ of the gallery, library and museum and their services 2019 – More than 700 people respond to a survey about the town’s heritage quarter 2019 – KBC commits funds to pay for a feasibility study by heritage development, funding and planning experts Colliers International 2019 – A funding application is submitted to South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership Local (SEMLEP) Growth Fund resulting in the the ‘GLaM’ successfully being identified as a ‘pipeline project’ – recognised within the region for its ‘strategic importance’ and ‘deliverability’ July 2020 – Working alongside SEMLEP the GLaM project is submitted as part of a regional bid to the Government to access Getting Building Fund money August 2020 – The now-defunct KBC secures £3m from the Getting Building Fund, administered by SEMLEP September 2020 – A multi-disciplinary project team including an architectural specialist expands on the initial design ideas with ‘must haves’ October 2020 – Planning application relating to external build is submitted. Key stakeholder engagement begins January 2021 – Planning permission is approved. Of the £3 million grant and further £640,000 from KBC reserves and £300,000 from NCC, a total of £867,000 is earmarked for internal refurbishment of the library, another £300,000 on a new roof. £1.6 million is to be spent on the extension to the art gallery with another £163,000 spent on an internal renovation February 2021 – Trees are felled and relocated to make way for the building work despite public outcry April 2021 – NCC and KBC cease to exist with North Northants Council taking on their place in the project May 2021 – Design completed. Library closes temporarily and art treasures put into storage off-site June 2021 – Enabling works begin with the demolition of outbuildings close to the site July 2021 – Construction begins and is scheduled to take 12 months. The library partially re-opens to public March 2022 – GLaM name dropped and replaced with ‘Cornerstone’ causing uproar. Councillors release a further £75,000 from the NNC's capital funds because the scheme is running over-budget July 2022 – Another £412,000 is released by NNC to ensure the project continues – ‘soft opening’ of Cornerstone planned for January 2023 February 2023 – Cornerstone sign goes up