WORK to turn the former St Barnabas Church into the island’s archive centre will start next month. Local firm C. A. Duquemin has been awarded the contract. This is not the first time it has worked on one of the island’s historic buildings – it was also responsible for the restoration of St James.

The States gave the £2.85m. project the green light in May last year as part of a deal between the then Board of Administration and the Tourist Board.

It will be home to the Island Archives Service, which has a lease on its Victoria Road premises until the end of 2005.

Scaffolding was erected around the church last year, but it was only earlier this week that the contracts were signed off by Treasury and Resources and the Policy Council.

‘We are delighted to have C. A. Duquemin on board,’ said a Treasury spokesman.

‘They are very experienced in this kind of work. It is a local contractor, which we are also very pleased about, and is well suited to this project.’

The site will be prepared over the next few weeks, with work due to start on 18 September.

The spokesman said that although the scaffolding had been there for some time, the project was still on schedule.

‘We are quite happy with the process that has gone on and we want to keep the budget on course,’ he said.

‘The scaffolding was there for survey work, to protect the roof and to keep the pigeons out because their droppings are toxic.’

The building firm’s managing director, John Duquemin, said the company was delighted to have secured the contract.

‘It follows on from some years ago with St James – we hope we have the same success with this,’ he said.

When the House gave its approval for renovating the former church, it was agreed that the cost would be split between the BoA and the Heritage Committee and it will now be shared by Treasury and Resources and the Policy Council.

The work should be finished by the end of next year.

During last year’s debate, it was also agreed that the Town slaughterhouse could be developed as an Asterix museum and Victor Hugo centre, with the former Agriculture and Countryside Board agreeing to look for a new abattoir.

The board, now part of the Commerce and Employment Department, has always supported plans to move the slaughterhouse to another site.

Chief officer Nigel Lewis said that there had been plans to move the facility to Longue Hougue, but that had been put on hold because of the energy-from-waste project.