Temporary Kettering library to open while leaking roof fixed

A new temporary library service is being opened while a leaking historic building is made watertight.

The roof of the library building in Kettering, Northamptonshire, suffered water damage during bad weather earlier this year.

Plans had been made to fix the leaky roof but heavy rain made the situation worse.

The library service will move into the new Cornerstone extension building while a £7m repair project takes place.

Problems with the 1904 library building have delayed the opening of North Northamptonshire Council's flagship Cornerstone project, which is designed to link the library and adjacent art gallery with a new community building.

The decaying roof of the old building has allowed water to flow into the new one and rainfall in October left the council with no choice but to close the library.

In December, the library will move temporarily into the upper floor of the Cornerstone extension.

Although water from the library roof is still getting into the lower floor of the extension, the council said the upper storey was not affected.

Helen Howell, the council's executive member for leisure and culture, said: "I am pleased that we are now in a position to open a temporary library within the new, modern extension of Cornerstone.

"We fully appreciate the importance of the library, and art gallery, to the residents of Kettering and wider afield and are working as hard as possible to find solutions."

The council said the library would move back to its original home as soon as the building was made watertight and the upper floor of the Cornerstone extension would revert to its intended role of offering bookable spaces and catering facilities to the public.

No date has yet been set for the temporary library to open.

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