A plan to revamp a derelict park lodge has opened up ‘a can of worms’ after a survey discovered the building was in a worse state of repair than first thought.

At a meeting of Falmouth Town Council’s finance and general purposes committee Coun Jude Robinson said the survey had found Kimberley Park Lodge was basically ‘rotten’.

“It’s in a state basically,” she said. “We really opened a can of worms there. It has to be addressed for the building is just rotten. It is sinking at the back, it's got problems with the floor with the roof and the electrics, with practically everything that you can think of, so it's urgent that we do something about it.”

Falmouth Packet:

She said the working party had been looking at the possibility of a community cafe and then local radio station Source FM had also come along with a community radio idea.

Coun Robinson said as the lodge needs so much work the council should treat it as an opportunity to do a really good job of refurbishing it.

This included expanding out at the back to make a bigger cafe space, to give Source FM much more space to have an interactive studio, so people in the cafe will be able to look into the studio to see people broadcasting and also have interview space.

She said Source FM was prepared to fundraise in the community and to set up Crowdfunding. She also said there was an ‘exceptional’ idea to twin the lodge with the Princess Pavilion.

Falmouth Packet:

“We have money in the budget to do the lodge,” she said “and obviously budgets are carried over because they haven't been used yet. What we can do is use that money and we are due to apply for grant funding from the National Lottery and anywhere else that will give us money in order to do the building work”

She said recent council surveys had found a need for things like rehearsal space, sound-proof rehearsal space which could be a possible money earner.

Falmouth Packet:

“If we kind of almost marry those two and made it joint project it would also benefit the pavilion as well as the lodge and we could bring more money and the town hall grant funding to actually refurbish these buildings

“I don't think we really have an alternative except to actually do something about this now, unless people just want to raise the whole lodge to the ground and just move on which I don't think is an option at all. Just leaving it as it is to deteriorate we can't do and it's going to need a lot more than a lick of paint and a bit of stud wall.”