Art at work (From Western Telegraph)

Art at work

While the future of Haverfordwest's Commerce House awaits a decision from the powers-that-be in Cardiff, the Western Telegraph took a moment to admire the feat of engineering which is preventing it collapsing on to Market Street.

The mastermind behind the stainless steel creation, a man with a self-confessed 'passion for scaffolding', is Alan Clark, of T. R. Services (Bristol) Ltd. Alan has described the job as a complete logistical nightmare.

"It has been an exercise in making sure that if the building does fall, it falls the right way - inwards," he said.

Alan's team of eight scaffolders have put in a staggering 2,000 man hours, working 12 hours-a-day, every day, for three weeks, to ensure Market Street continues to remain open and safe for shoppers and passers-by.

The structure, worthy of entry in to this year's Turner Prize, contains more than five miles of scaffolding poles, which if laid flat, would completely encircle Haverfordwest and Merlins Bridge, or if built upwards would stand taller than Mont Blanc - Europe's highest peak.

The poles, which weigh in at an awesome 32 tons and in normal circumstances could provide scaffolding for up to ten family homes, are held together by more than 5,000 fittings and the whole structure is stabilised by 3,500 concrete blocks - more than enough to build two small houses. The entire scaffold rests on over 200 metres of railway sleepers.

While the dereliction of Commerce House is a shameful situation, the tangled, spider's web of gleaming poles preventing its total collapse is a work of art for every resident of Haverfordwest to admire.

Pembrokeshire County Council last week lodged a formal application to completely demolish the building under the Town and Country Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Order 1990.