Grangemouth_Town_Hall

Grangemouth Town Hall

Grangemouth Town Hall

Municipal building in Grangemouth, Scotland

Grangemouth Town Hall is a municipal structure in Bo'ness Road, Grangemouth, Scotland. The structure was the meeting place of Grangemouth Burgh Council and remains the main events venue in the area.

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History

After Grangemouth became a police burgh in 1872,[1] the burgh commissioners decided to procure a new civic building for the town: the site they chose for the town hall was open land which they acquired from the Caledonian Railway Company.[2] A design competition was arranged and won by William Black whose design for a town hall in Newmarket Street in Falkirk had already been successfully executed.[3][4] The Grangemouth building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1885.[5][6]

The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Bo'ness Road; the central bay, which was recessed, featured a flight of steps leading up to a doorway which was flanked by Ionic order columns supporting a entablature and a balustrade, behind which, on the first floor, there was a balcony and a French door. The side sections, which were enhanced by pairs of Ionic order pilasters on the first floor, were fenestrated by casement windows with brackets supporting canopies and, at roof level, there was a cornice and a balustrade. Internally, the principal room was the main assembly hall.[7]

Black was also responsible for the design of the public library on the opposite side of the road which was financed by the Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie: Carnegie travelled to the town hall from Glasgow to conduct the opening ceremony of the library personally on 31 January 1889.[8] The area was advanced to the status of small burgh in 1930[1] and the council officers and their departments relocated to new municipal offices on the opposite side of the road in 1937.[9] The town hall continued to be used as an events venue and performers included the rock band, The Beatles, in 1960,[10] the rock band, Them, led by Van Morrison, in 1964[11] and the new wave band, Ultravox, in 1978.[11]

The complex ceased to be the local seat of government after Falkirk District Council was established in 1975.[12] The buildings continued to be used for the delivery of local services, but in 2011, the council started to look for a developer to support the regeneration of the complex.[13]

References

  1. [1]
    "Grangemouth Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Feu contract for land to build Grangemouth Town Hall". Falkirk Community Trust. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  3. [3]
    "Memorials in stone abound in Falkirk district". Falkirk Herald. 30 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  4. [4]
    "Falkirk's lost heritage is gone but not forgotten..." Falkirk Herald. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  5. [5]
    "Grangemouth Town Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  6. [6]
    "Grangemouth". Visitor UK. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Grangemouth Town Hall". Falkirk Community Trust. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  8. [8]
    Nasaw, David (2007). Andrew Carnegie. Penguin. p. 306. ISBN 978-1594201042.
  9. [9]
    "Grangemouth Municipal Buildings Windows". Falkirk Local History Society. February 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  10. [10]
    Munroe, John Neil (1995). The Sensational Alex Harvey. Firefly Books. ISBN 978-0946719471.
  11. [11]
    "Famous Acts Who Played Falkirk". Falkirk Music Scene. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  13. [13]
    "Developer wanted to revamp Grangemouth". Construction Enquirer. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
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