THE new Wisbech office of Cambridgeshire County Council will be named Awdry House - after the famous creator of children’s favourite Thomas the Tank Engine.
The public voted to name the new facility after Reverend Wilbert Awdry (1911-1997), who was Vicar of Emneth from 1953-1965 and wrote the Thomas the Tank Engine books.
The �6.5million office will replace other “outdated” properties in the town and will be built adjacent to the College of West Anglia (COWA).
It will bring a range of Children and Young People Services under one roof and forms part of the council’s investment in Wisbech,
A public vote was held on the Shape Your Place website – www.shapeyourplace.org - to name the new facility.
The name Awdry got half of the vote, with Godwin - the father of Mary Shelley and a political writer - receiving 29 per cent and Townshend - a poet and friend of Charles Dickens - getting 21 per cent.
Construction is due to start on April 23 and the building is expected to be completed by Easter 2013.
The office will neighbour a new �7.2million technology centre, which is being built for COWA students.
The build project, which is part funded by the county council and Fenland District Council, will include workshop facilities for engineering, motorsports, motor vehicle engineering and electrical programmes.
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