Bill of almost £1.2m for work to protect City Hall and St Andrew’s Hall
St Andrew's Hall, Norwich. PHOTO BY SIMON FINLAY - Credit: SIMON FINLAY
Almost £1.2m needs to be spent on Norwich's historic City Hall and St Andrew's Hall, to protect them from deterioration.
City Hall. Photo: Nick Butcher. - Credit: EDP pics © 2007
Norwich City Council is due to spend £280,000 on St Andrew's Hall this year and a further £60,000 next year on a refurbishment of the interior of the Grade I listed building.
Bosses say the money will be used to replace tiered seating at the rear of the hall, to put in new stage curtains, to install new stall seating and to replace the staging cover.
The city council says that the work will be done during the hall's quieter periods, so the venue, which hosts concerns and events such as the city's beer festival, will not have to be closed.
The £60,000 earmarked for next year will pay for refurbishment of the male and disabled toilets, following a previous refurbishment of the female toilets.
Paul Kendrick. Pic: Archant Library. - Credit: Archant
St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall is the most complete medieval friary complex in the country, dating back to the 15th century.
The city council is also budgeting to spend more than £800,000 on its own City Hall headquarters - a Grade II* listed building - over the next five years.
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That includes £315,000 which will be spent this year on four new boilers to heat the council building.
The council says the existing boilers are more than 20 years old and, while they still work, there has been an increasing number of faults.
The council says its two existing gas boilers will be replaced with modern energy efficient gas boilers, which will allow the temperature in the building to be reduced overnight and at weekends.
A further £400,000 has been earmarked for the following four years, including to refurbish an office and on general conservation of the building, which dates back to 1938.
And more than £100,000 is to be spent over four years to conserve chamber benches and committee rooms.
Paul Kendrick, cabinet member with responsibility for property and asset management, said: "It's really important that the council looks after and enhances the character and historical features of City Hall and The Halls.
"By investing in these significant Norwich buildings we are preserving them for future use and enjoyment."
