Ashburton Town Hall has been 'tangoed'.
Saturday was the open day of our newly refurbished town hall.
On a positive note, the new kitchen and toilet facilities are absolutely marvellous.
However, I and many others stood in amazement as we entered the building. The main entrance, staircase and the main hall have been painted in a bright orange paint with chocolate coloured paint to the door frames and skirtings.
It looks absolutely abysmal.
Ashburton Town Hall is the core of our community, it is a place for our local events to be held.
I was under the impression that following the refurbishments it was hoped that many people would use the building as a venue for various events - weddings included.
I already know of two extremely disappointed brides to be.
On the most important day of your life how can you have photographs taken with a bright orange background? How can you pose on the grand staircase in your beautiful gown surrounded by orange walls and an orange painted balustrade?
Ashburton Town Hall is a grade II listed building. Surely it should have been decorated with this in mind? Any neutral colour would have sufficed.
The grand staircase looks small and enclosed, the main hall looks dark and dismal.
This is our town hall, not a Mexican tequila bar.
I feel so strongly that, if the town council is not willing to rectify this "mishap", I am willing to gather a group of the local community together and we will repaint the building ourselves.
Surely, by repainting the building in an appropriate colour, we will get more bookings and more events will be held on the site in the years to come.
I truly hope that the town council, along with the local community, can rectify this problem.