Work on the Old Town Hall at the heart of the town’s original focal point of St Hilda’s is well under way in a major project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Contractor Walter Thompson is transforming the Grade ll-listed structure - opened in 1846 and immortalised by LS Lowry - into a business space within the town’s burgeoning Boho Zone.
The £6.3 million project has already seen the demolition of a 1970s extension to the building, alongside much-needed structural work.
The original clock tower is also being restored and brought back into use, while a modern marketplace extension will contrast the old and the new and will be a key feature of the town’s bicentenary celebrations in 2028.
And now visitors to Middlesbrough’s libraries and community hubs can find out more about the building’s heritage and the ambitious project to give it a new lease of life thanks to a Roaming Archive Display.
The roaming display features a portable roll-up banner with images, key dates and information covering the building’s history, along with a QR code leading to more detail on the Middlesbrough Council website.
The banner will visit the following venues in turn for up to two weeks before returning to the Central Library where it will remain until the end of September:
• Central Library
• Acklam
• Hemlington
• Marton
• Easterside
• Grove Hill
• North Ormesby
• Newport
• Thorntree
• Age Friendly Hub at the Live Well Centre
Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke said: “The Old Town Hall is a powerful symbol of Middlesbrough’s rapid rise as an industrial powerhouse that would help to shape the world we live in today.
“The transformation that’s rapidly taking shape is deserved recognition of the building’s historic importance, and that’s a source of enormous pride for local people.
“Many of those with direct ties to St Hilda’s now live further out in the community, so this is a way to revive cherished memories and keep them informed.”
• For more information on the history and restoration of Middlesbrough’s Old Town Hall, visit Old Town Hall | Middlesbrough Council
