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City Hall, Leicester

Not to be confused with Leicester Town Hall.

City Hall, Leicester
City Hall, Leicester
LocationCharles Street, Leicester
Coordinates52°38′04″N 1°07′47″W / 52.6344°N 1.1298°W / 52.6344; -1.1298
Built1938
ArchitectLeonard Barnish and Spencer Silcock
Architectural style(s)Art Deco style
City Hall, Leicester is located in Leicestershire
City Hall, Leicester
Shown in Leicestershire

City Hall, formerly Attenborough House and, before that, the Municipal Buildings, is a municipal building in Charles Street, Leicester, England. The structure, which currently accommodates the offices of Leicester City Council, is a locally listed building.[1]

History

The building was commissioned to provide additional office accommodation for Leicester City Council which had been operating from Leicester Town Hall since 1876.[2] The site selected by civic leaders, on the west side of Charles Street, was occupied by a large number of small buildings.[3]

The new building was designed by Leonard Barnish and Spencer Silcock in the Art Deco style, built in Portland stone, and was officially opened by the Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Acton, on 7 November 1938. The design involved a five-storey symmetrical main frontage of 21 bays facing onto Charles Street. The central section of seven bays featured three tall openings which spanned the lower two floors. The ground floor accommodated a series of shop fronts, which were protected by a long canopy, on either side of the openings. On the upper floors, all bays were all fenestrated by rectangular casement windows, and the corners onto Rutland Street and Halford Street were canted. The fourth floor was slightly recessed and was surmounted by a prominent mansard roof.[4]

In addition to accommodating various departments of Leicester Corporation, the building also became the home for its electricity showrooms which later evolved into the showrooms of the East Midlands Electricity Board. In the 1960s, a bunker was constructed under the building to protect the councillors from nuclear attack.[5] At that time the building also accommodated the box office for the sale of concert tickets for De Montfort Hall.[6]

After the council officers and their departments moved to new offices at the New Walk Centre in 1975, the Charles Street building was re-purposed for commercial use and became known as Attenborough House. One of the tenants was Willie Thorne's Snooker Club.[7] However, in 2009, it became necessary to vacate the New Walk Centre after it was found to be structurally unsound.[8][9][10]

A major refurbishment of the Charles Street building, carried out by Willmott Dixon at a cost of £14 million to a design by Franklin Ellis Architects, was completed in 2014.[11][12] This enabled Leicester City Council to move the council officers and their departments back into the building in Charles Street, which was then renamed City Hall. The principal assembly room in the refurbished building was named the Attenborough Hall.[13] The refurbishment was placed first in the Restoration Award Category in the Civic Society Awards in 2014.[14]

The main council offices are at City Hall on Charles Street, but council meetings continue to be held in the town hall in Town Hall Square.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Local Heritage Asset Register" (PDF). Leicester City Council. 2023. p. 129. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  2. ^ "The Town Hall". The Story of Leicester. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1914. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  4. ^ "City Hall". The Story of Leicester. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  5. ^ Butt, Stephen (2014). Leicester in the 1950s. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445640785.
  6. ^ "Get back to the past with these fab Beatles pictures taken in Leicester". Leicester Mercury. 28 November 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Rileys At Willie Thorne Snooker Centre". Leicester.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Leicester City mayor moves out of condemned offices". BBC News. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Leicester council offices: Controlled demolition of New Walk HQ". BBC News. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Leicester council office demolition creates development opportunity". The Construction Index. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  11. ^ Butt, Stephen (2016). Leicester in 50 Buildings. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445659213.
  12. ^ "Leicester City Hall". ProCon Leicestershire. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Hire Rooms at City Hall". Leicester City Council. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Civic Society Awards 2014". Leicester Civic Society. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Annual Meeting, Council, The Council Chamber, First Floor, Town Hall, Town Hall Square, Leicester". 18 May 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
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