Restaurant plans for old town hall
Published Thursday 20th Sep 2007, Bolton News.
AN HISTORIC former civic building looks set to be restored and turned into a restaurant as part of a scheme which could create up to 50 jobs.
The planned development of the restaurant and bar at the Grade II listed Little Bolton Town Hall in St Georges Road could create 30 of the jobs.
Another 20 could be created with the refurbishment of a former office building at 34 All Saints Street, which is also Grade II listed.
Leeds-based developer Rushbond, which was chosen by Bolton Council to carry out the restoration, hopes to submit plans by the end of the year, with work likely to begin next year.
The council says the developer has a track record in the sympathetic refurbishment of historic buildings.
Cllr Ebrahim Adia, Bolton Council's executive member for development, said the announcement was a boost to the council's plan to regenerate the Little Bolton area, which is north of the Market Place shopping centre.
Last year, the council secured an £800,000 Townscape Heritage Initiative grant funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
It is now working with groups interested in securing money to restore buildings in St Georges Road and Bark Street East.
Cllr Adia said: "We are pleased that the Rushbond proposals look to refurbishing this historic building in a sensitive way.
"They will bring it into a 21st century use while conserving its existing charm, which is what the Little Bolton scheme is all about."
Mark Finch, Rushbond's director of development, said: "Our company has a reputation for successfully reusing historic buildings.
"Little Bolton Town Hall has a fascinating history and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with the council to bring this building back into beneficial use.
"We have started talks with a number of potential occupiers and we want something distinctive and different for the town rather than something which replicates what it has already got."
He added: "The commitment shown by the council to the Little Bolton initiative, and the wider plans for development within the town centre, supports our view that the area is a place in which to invest with real confidence."
Rushbond will be granted a long lease on the property with the council retaining the freehold.
Little Bolton Town Hall dates to 1826 and was the main civic centre before the current town hall opened in 1873.
It became a public library in 1879 and was later a workshop for the Borough Water Engineers and most recently a local history museum, which closed in 1993 in a cost-cutting exercise.
