A family affair

SIX months after an unknown entrepreneur from London rescued the Mechanics' Institute the building is looking healthier than it has in nearly two decades.

And far from it being a crumbling eyesore, the Grade II* listed former Great Western Railway workers' community centre is as solid as a rock, says owner Mathew Singh.

But the fact that Mr Singh, 39, came to own the 149-year-old building in Emlyn Square at all is all due to a family connection that dates back to the 1960s.

Sohan Samra, 78, Mr Singh's uncle, was the first to move to England from India, and then oversaw the arrival of other family members.

Mr Singh's father, who arrived here in 1965, left India with just £3 and arrived with half that after spending £1.50 on drinks during the flight. But within 18 months he had started a rag trade business and bought a house in Station Road through hard work, a discipline he has tried to instil in his children.

Mr Singh, who sold his retail business in 2000, spent his formative years living in Station Road and says it was then he gained an affinity with Swindon.

Nearly two decades later he has returned as the saviour of a grand old landmark that has stood idle for years and whose recent use was limited as a haven for drug users, squatters and nesting pigeons.

On the look out for another business opportunity, Mr Singh employed his uncle and his cousin, Dhanminder Samra, 17, to keep an eye out for suitable properties on the market.

After considering and quickly dismissing the former White House Hotel in Station Road, young Dhanminder discovered the Mechanics' and the rest, as they say, is history.

Dhanminder, who plans to study business at Cardiff University in September, said: "I went round Swindon looking at several buildings on the market and discovered the Mechanics' Institute I didn't really think anything of it, but it turned out to be a gem and I'm still waiting for my cut of the money."

Mr Singh still refuses to say exactly how much he paid for the building the rumours have him paying as little as £1 and as much as £1 million. Plans for its future use are still with his architects, Fielden Clegg Bradley.

The smart money is on the building being divided between residential apartments and community use possibly a youth centre or some kind of meeting place.

Mr Singh said: "I stuck with it because I had a gut feeling and it seemed right that's how I usually do business and so far I haven't been wrong.

"It's a beautiful building, a goldmine.

"This is the centrepiece of Swindon's railway heritage and I must say the place looks much better now. We have 24-hour security on the site, all the windows have been sealed up so pigeons can't get in and make the place a mess, all the dead wood and litter has been cleared from inside and we've started work on repairing and making safe other areas.

"I don't know where the rumours about the building falling to pieces first appeared, but they're just not true this place is as solid as a rock. It's clean inside and you can begin to appreciate what it must have looked like in its heyday.

"People have said a lot of things about this place in the past and none have come to fruition. All I can say is that I've done what I promised and people have to believe what I say."

This week the Advertiser was allowed unprecedented access to all areas of the building to see how much of the structure was sound.

Inside, amid the eerie silence, it's easy to conjure up images of what this grand old building must have been like during the Great Western Railway's heyday.

At the southern end, a marble staircase leads to a series of small rooms and a corridor, from which stand several dressing rooms.

At the northern end is a theatre room and huge stage, complete with a sweeping balcony.

Downstairs are a number of rooms that would be ideal as an art gallery and museum two things the town desperately needs.

Mr Singh said: "The plans are exciting, but everyone has heard this all before that's why I'm keeping quiet until they are concrete.

"I had thought that this place would make a great home for my family, if nothing else but that's not going to happen now.

"This will, however, be a place for the next generation of my family to own."

149 years of Swindon history

1854 The Mechanics' Institute was built by the Mechanics' Institute Committee and cost £3,000. The committee sold shares to raise the money.

1960 The library closes after 117 years after a fall in the workforce and, therefore, income.

1985 British Rail Engineering offers the building to Thamesdown Borough Council

1986 The railway works close and the Mechanics' is sold to a private developer. A community battle against the construction of a nightclub in the building leads to its re-sale.

1990 The council refuses permission to turn the building into a hotel because of fierce local opposition.

1991 Owner appeals and gains approval.

1995 A new campaign to stop continued deterioration of the building leads to the formation of the New Mechanics' Preservation Trust, spearheaded by Martha Parry.

2003 Stroud-based Mountmead Limited sells the building for an undisclosed fee to Mathew Singh's Forefront Estates Limited in February.