DERELICT BUILDING IN OLD TOWN, SWINDON

In May 2003 and again in 2004, this beautiful Listed Building, known locally as The Locarno, and which had stood empty since the late 1990s, was on fire - whether deliberate or accidental, it was very sad to see it in such a sorry state.

I took photographs of the fire damage and actually blipped it a couple of years ago, hoping that before too long, it would be restored.   

However, 17 years on, and still nothing has been done to bring it back to its former glory, so it stands looking forlorn and derelict.  When I passed it this morning, I thought it might be a good idea to make it part of the Derelict Sunday Challenge.  

It was built in the mid 19th Century and known as known as The Corn Exchange and Town Hall and it was used for agricultural purposes until about 1910.  After that the name was changed and it was then known as The Rink and The Locarno and has been a cinema, a roller skating rink and also a dance hall.  

Many well-known pop groups held concerts there and it was also used for wrestling matches and then as a bingo Hall - interestingly, the inscription above the door reads : "Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits"!

It would be good to see it restored to its former glory - but sadly developers come and go and nothing gets done, leaving this once beautiful building as a "blot on the landscape" of Old Town.  However, it must have been well built because the recent storms don’t seem to have done any more damage to the building.

“There was a time in our past 
     when one could walk down any street 
          and be surrounded by harmonious buildings. 
Such a street wasn't perfect, 
     it wasn't necessarily even pretty, 
          but it was alive. 
The old buildings smiled, 
     while our new buildings are faceless. 
The old buildings sang, 
     while the buildings of our age 
          have no music in them.”
Jonathan Hale