Money is pledged for town's heritage

After more than ten years of negotiation, the trustees have announced their redevelopment programme.

North Wiltshire District Council has awarded the trust an initial £20,500 and promised to give a further £3,500 once it is match funded.

A total of £48,000 will be spent on building work inside the former Carnegie Library to create the centre.

The money from the district council means the interior can now be fitted out.

Trust chairman and mayor Tony Trotman said: "We can start now. The funds are there to bring the heritage centre forward. We are looking for volunteers to help to run it on a daily basis."

Plans for the centre include 26 themes connected with Calne, including artefacts and photographs.

The centre will be divided into two main rooms, which will include the book display area and a larger, spacious, glass-roofed room, which was used as the reading room.

The heritage centre trust hopes to open the museum in August for five days a week. The opening will coincide with the anniversary of the laying of the first stone of the building in 1904.

The centre, which will have disabled access, will also house secure offices for the CCTV monitoring unit.

The trust is holding a meeting for supporters on April 28 to encourage them to volunteer their help to run the centre.

A model of the museum will be on display along with examples of the themes.

Five hundred letters will be sent to people who wrote to the trustees in 2003 expressing an interest in the centre, to invite them to the meeting.

Mr Trotman said the trustees would manage the body of volunteers, who would work in pairs over a two or three hour period each day between Wednesday and Sunday.

He has appealed for anyone with an interest in the town, especially those with a good knowledge of Calne to come forward.

During the meeting, which will be held at 7.30pm in Marden House, a Friends of Calne Heritage Centre will be formed to run and help fund the museum.