PROPOSALS to rebuild a Railway Village landmark have been mooted.

But estimates put the cost of rebuilding the cricket pavilion at GWR Park at £150,000.

Martha Parry of the Mechanics Institution Trust presented the idea to South Swindon Parish Council.

She said the Victorian pavilion was demolished in the 1960s. A new facility could house toilets and a café for park users.

Asked by John Firmin, a town centre parish councillor, how much the project might cost, Ms Parry suggested the figure could be £150,000 or more. She said the trust might look at bidding for grant funding for the scheme, but did not give any detail about the future running of the building.

She defended the track record of the Mechanics Institution Trust, whose refurbished Bakers Arms café closed a couple of months after opening last September. The café is expected to reopen next month.

“It has the powers and the capacity to handle these kinds of projects,” Ms Parry said of the trust.

“The fact that the Bakers is closed now is not to do with it not working. It was the fact it was working so well.”

Neil Hopkins, chairman of the parish leisure committee, said pavilion plans might need further discussion: “I’d like to emphasise we do not have £150,000 to hand over for the pavilion, but I think it’s important with such a special place to have the aspiration.”

Daniel Rose, director of the Mechanics Institution Trust, said following the meeting that the pavilion proposals were not fully formed.

“The pavilion is just an idea with some rough drawings put together by one of our trustees - a retired architect,” he said. “This was based on inspiration from local people’s ideas and designs of structures that were originally in the park. There is no formal plan, funding or timescale at this time for the pavilion.”

He suggested the idea could be looked at in more detail this year. Swindon Borough Council has been given the go-ahead by government heritage quango Historic England to develop a Heritage Action Zone covering the Railway Village.

Awarded last November, Heritage Action Zone status could result in more investment to the 150-year-old neighbourhood. The council has until spring to work up a plan for Historic England of what they will do to improve the area and attract more visitors.Dale Heenan, cabinet member for the town centre, said when action zone status was awarded last year: “The Railway Village is the most significant surviving railway-engineering establishment of its time in the world, and our aim is to ensure it is recognised nationally as a go-to place of historic interest."

“It is now crucial that Swindon’s Heritage community pull together to make this scheme a huge success and for visible progress over the next five years.”