Manchester City Council announces £2.2 million town hall upgrade

Manchester City Council has agreed to consider a major refurbishment of its grade-one listed town hall after announcing it is in urgent need of repair.

The initial phase of works to modernise the building would cost £2.2 million, which would be split between revenue (£1.2 million) and capital costs (£1 million), but the overall bill could be considerably more.

The report discussed by the council executive proposes electrical, mechanical, heating and structural work.

The building, which has not had a full upgrade since its completion in 1877, is expected to add significant value to the Civic Quarter.

Labour councillor Jeff Smith said it was vital that “the most important building in Manchester is maintained for future generations”.

The report said: “Continuing without addressing the backlog of issues would ultimately lead to the building becoming unusable, resulting in the extensive replacement works, redundancy and even potentially disposal.”

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