{"id":1179569,"date":"2026-08-31T21:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1179569\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T21:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:08:35","slug":"community-venue-faces-130000-shortfall-after-vaults-discovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1179569\/","title":{"rendered":"Community venue faces \u00a3130,000 shortfall after vaults discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

A community hub has revealed a \u00a3130,000 funding shortfall in its major renovation project following soaring construction costs and the discovery of underground vaults.<\/p>\n

Action Porty<\/a> initially raised \u00a3900,000 to transform Bellfield\u2019s Celebration Hall, but extensive unforeseen issues have forced organisers to scale back the original design.<\/p>\n

Plans for a new mezzanine and lift were scrapped after builders encountered unexpected asbestos, essential rewiring requirements, and two subterranean vaults during floor excavation.<\/p>\n

The board is now seeking further funding and volunteer<\/a> support to complete the venue in time for its upcoming reopening.<\/p>\n

\"\"AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

A new floor with underfloor heating has been installed throughout the ground floor, made possible by the removal of the original pews.<\/p>\n

During the groundwork<\/a>, archaeologists were brought in to examine and preserve the two underground vaults to ensure structural safety.<\/p>\n

Additional upgrades to the building include a new toilet block, kitchen, meeting room, and storage facilities, alongside extensive drainage, lighting, and plumbing improvements.<\/p>\n

An initial projected deficit of \u00a3190,000 has been reduced to \u00a3130,000 following local fundraising efforts, which included contributions from local swimmers, a pub, and a financial package from Business Energy Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Builders are currently completing the structural work, and volunteers are being sought to undertake decorating duties to minimise further expenses.<\/p>\n

The board is pursuing two additional funding avenues and has appealed to the public for advice on bridging the remaining financial gap.<\/p>\n

Despite the structural and financial setbacks, the venue is preparing to accept bookings for events, conferences, and weddings, with plans for a reopening celebration once building control checks are passed.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A community hub has revealed a \u00a3130,000 funding shortfall in its major renovation project following soaring construction costs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1179570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[319674,167870,748,1102,4884,117929,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-1179569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-action-porty","tag-bellfield","tag-britain","tag-edinburgh","tag-great-britain","tag-portobello","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117192172138360615","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1179569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1179569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1179570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1179569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1179569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1179569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}