A NEW £15,000 stage will be built at Witney’s Langdale Hall as the town’s Corn Exchange remains shut.

Witney Town Council closed the Corn Exchange, in Market Square, in November after a report showed it had “major” problems with fire escapes, stonework, heating and electrics.

The council hopes to fix and reopen the building but a total cost for the project and an opening date have not yet been established.

It was previously suggested that the revamp could cost up to £1.5m and take up to 18 months.

The council’s public halls committee agreed on Tuesday to spend £15,333 on an adjustable and bespoke stage, wing and tiered seating for Langdale Hall.

Witney theatre groups have had no public theatre space since the Corn Exchange closed and have been performing in school halls.

Witney Dramatic Society’s Virginia Bushell said: “We would very much like to support this. It is proving very difficult for us to find alternative facilities.”

The committee agreed to spend another £13,000 on Langdale Hall, replacing dormer windows, installing a hearing loop and altering the hot water system.

The council is still assessing the cost of repair work at the Corn Exchange and a recently published report on the state of the electrics revealed further costs.

The report said four installations were “dangerous” and required “immediate action” and 15 were “potentially dangerous” and required “urgent action”.

Deputy mayor Jim King, an electrician by trade, described the electrics as “a nightmare” and said the hall needed rewiring, which could cost between £50,000 and £80,000.

Councillor Pete Dorward said: “Although the hall was closed for a reason, having seen the electrics report we would have needed to close it anyway.”

The council has been cleaning stonework on the Corn Exchange so facade repair work can begin, and the cost of renovating the facade is likely to be between £50,000 and £60,000.

Committee chairman Toby Morris said: “We want to see how much money is left because we seem to be eating through it quickly.”

The council will hold a workshop on Saturday, March 31, to thrash out a design for the revamped Corn Exch-ange, to be used to brief architects.

The next public halls committee meeting will be at the Town Hall on April 17.