For the past eight months I have been living and working next to a building site. When I first heard that the old school property behind my premises that lies between Duke Street and Vine Terrace was going to be renovated I was rather worried. Months of noisy dirty building work would be bound to impinge on my daily life in a property where I both work and live.
I am happy to say that my fears were unfounded. There were very few days when the work was so noisy that it was any sort of inconvenience and the builders never arrived earlier than 7:30 in the morning so my sleep was never interrupted.
Watching the progress has been both interesting and puzzling. On the first day they demolished a small dilapidated building in the corner of the plot and the whole site transformed in appearance very quickly. But after that there seemed to be a daily procession of wagons that either brought in soil and rubble or took it away. Mounds of rubble and dirt were moved from one spot to the other giving the impression that this was the only work going on.
Behind the scenes however there was much happening. This crumbly old bulding was being transformed inside to create some modern clean office units for small businesses in Hucknall.
As I live next door to the property I was privileged to be allowed a sneak preview of the inside now that work is almost finished. In a way, what you see are some rather standard office units but this being an old building they were able to leave some original brickwork inside giving the property some personality.
Amazingly, Ashfield District Council do not yet appear to be marketing the property but I can report that it is almost ready. The inside is finished, the car parking spaces are painted and the external lighting has been installed. The contractors are just tidying up now and I for one am looking forward to seeing some life in this once neglected building. Let us hope that this is a good omen for the end of the recession!