THE iconic Mechanics’ Institute building in Emlyn Square should be auctioned off to prevent the listed building becoming a ruin.

That’s the view of engineer and enthusiast Karsten Evans, who wants to be able to bid for the building himself.

He would like to see the building restored with part being made into flats and larger spaces used for an exhibition centre.

Currently the building is in private hands, owned by Forefront Estates.

Its sole director is listed at Companies House as Sarabjit Singh Dhanoa, formerly Matthew Singh.

But because Swindon Borough Council has a charge on the building against the company, when it was forced to make emergency repairs costing hundreds of thousands of pounds, Mr Evans believes the local authority can, and should, force the building to be auctioned.

He said: “I have asked the council to force an auction before and it won’t do it. I don’t know why.

“It has a charge on the building – it took a court order out because the council had to make repairs to it and it was awarded £380,000 against Forefront Estates. But the council has never bothered to try and recover the money it’s spent. It should do it.”

Mr Evans, who has previously stood as a candidate in both local and general elections said he would want to make a bid for at least part of the building.

He said: “I want to see the building sold.

“I’d want to buy plot two, and I want to use the building. I’d live in it and I want to restore it.”

Mr Evans said he thinks some of the building could be made into flats and the rest into an exhibition centre.

He added: “I’d want to get rail engineering firms involved in restoring the place. It’s part of the history of rail engineering, so I’d ask major engineering companies to take part in the restoration.

“It’s important – the building is in danger of becoming a ruin. The definition of a ruin is a building without its roof.”

The institute’s roof nearly collapsed a few years ago and needed urgent repair.

A council spokesman said: “The council spent a considerable amount of money protecting the Mechanics’ from collapse, so charges were registered to secure costs.

“The council could enforce the charges and begin legal proceedings to make an application for an order of sale, but this would be extremely costly and may not result in anyone coming forward to buy the Mechanics’, particularly as the building requires investment running into tens of millions of pounds.

"It is therefore not in the council’s best interests to pursue this course of action.”

Troubled history of landmark

THE Mechanics' Institute in Swindon has a legitimate claim to inspiring two of Britain’s most treasured public institutions - the lending library and the NHS.

The Grade II-listed building was constructed in 1855 for the benefit of railway workers at Great Western Railway as the town, and Railway Village expanded.

It was set up as a community centre for the railway workers, providing educational services, a market place for fresh food and as a meeting place.

It housed was is claimed to have been the first lending library in England, preceding the first public library by years.

Later the building was expanded and was the base for a campaign to found the GWR Medical Fund, setting up a cottage hospital for GWR workers, which was used as a model in the mid-20th century for the National Health Service.

Closed in the mid-1980s, the building has suffered from neglect and vandalism ever since. It was bought in 2003 by private company Forefront Estates, but despite plans to bring the building back to life, that hasn’t been a happy tale.

The building continued to fall into increasing disrepair and in 2012 Swindon Borough Council sued the company, owned by Matthew Singh, for money it had spent on urgent repairs.

The company was then dissolved, but was restored last year and all its assets, including the Mechanics' Institute, returned to it.

But the building remains shuttered despite a £250,000 grant from English Heritage to the council for the emergency repairs it carried out, including urgent work to stop the roof collapsing.