Council abandons plans for £9m Town Hall revamp

1:42pm Thursday 17th August 2006

PLANS to transform Oxford Town Hall into a £9m cultural centre are to be dropped, With the National Lottery indicating that there is little chance of it investing in such a costly scheme, Oxford city councillors are now likely to look at a 'cut-price' alternative.

A report to city councillors this week warned that making the Oxford Town Hall the civic heart of the city was going to be "high risk and expensive".

And as they were poised to decide on what to do with the Grade II* Victorian Town Hall, it emerged that the city will have to settle for refurbishments costing between £1m and £2m.

Alan Armitage, the city council executive member for the environment, said the National Lottery had told the council it could not consider backing a £9m scheme, unless it could be shown to be "a national project".

It means hopes of creating a new entrance to the Town Hall from High Street will be dashed, along with proposals for a new retail area and an information centre.

There were also plans for a jazz venue, dance venue, exhibitions area, wine bars and conference area, along with proposals to improve the Museum of Oxford and civic areas for receptions and for new facilities for civil ceremonies.

The scaled down project is now likely to substantially focus on improvements to the main hall and its development as a concert venue.

A report to members of the authority's decision-making executive committee next Monday will say: "The proposed large scheme will require a substantial Lottery award as well as a large amount of capital funds from the council.

"This is a high-risk scheme with high capital costs and no information at present as to the ongoing revenue implications."

The committee will also be told that just the cost of carrying out the backlog of maintenance work in the Town Hall would be over £1m, with half of the maintenance required in the main hall.

Councillors are now expected to ask officers to come up with a smaller refurbishment scheme which would mean bidding for £1m from Heritage Lottery.

Mr Armitage said: "We've set considerably increased targets for the staff in the Town Hall to increase revenue, but behind that is a realisation we are not making the best of the building - not by a long chalk.

"And we could do with more clients. I would like people to think of it as their Town Hall, a place where they could drop in from time to time."

At the heart of the problem is the fact few people realise the Town Hall is for hire or has a recently-opened caf. Last year, the Town Hall manager had an advertising budget of just £537.

The council is in negotiations with Oxford's tour guides to start and finish their city sightseeing trips at the Town Hall and to promote the facilities inside.