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Grangemouth Town Hall

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Municipal building in Grangemouth, Scotland

Grangemouth Town Hall
Grangemouth Town Hall
LocationBo'ness Road, Grangemouth
Coordinates56°01′11″N 3°43′17″W / 56.0197°N 3.7214°W / 56.0197; -3.7214
Built1885
ArchitectWilliam Black
Architectural style(s)Neoclassical style
Grangemouth Town Hall is located in FalkirkGrangemouth Town HallShown in Falkirk council area

Grangemouth Town Hall is a municipal structure in Bo'ness Road, Grangemouth, Scotland. The structure was the meeting place of Grangemouth Burgh Council until 1937 and remains the main events venue in the area.

History

After Grangemouth became a police burgh in 1872, 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. 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. The Grangemouth building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1885.

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.

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. After the area was advanced to the status of small burgh in 1930, the council and their officers sought dedicated premises, and relocated to new municipal buildings on the opposite side of the road in 1937. The town hall continued to be used as an events venue and performers included the rock band, The Beatles, in 1960, the rock band, Them, led by Van Morrison, in 1964 and the new wave band, Ultravox, in 1978.

In 2011, the council started to look for a developer to support the regeneration of the complex.

References

  1. ^ "Grangemouth Burgh". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  2. "Feu contract for land to build Grangemouth Town Hall". Falkirk Community Trust. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  3. "Memorials in stone abound in Falkirk district". Falkirk Herald. 30 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  4. "Falkirk's lost heritage is gone but not forgotten..." Falkirk Herald. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  5. "Grangemouth Town Hall". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  6. "Grangemouth". Visitor UK. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  7. "Grangemouth Town Hall". Falkirk Community Trust. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  8. Nasaw, David (2007). Andrew Carnegie. Penguin. p. 306. ISBN 978-1594201042.
  9. "Grangemouth Municipal Buildings Windows". Falkirk Local History Society. February 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  10. "Official opening of the Municipal Buildings, Grangemouth". Falkirk Community Trust. 1937. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  11. Munroe, John Neil (1995). The Sensational Alex Harvey. Firefly Books. ISBN 978-0946719471.
  12. ^ "Famous Acts Who Played Falkirk". Falkirk Music Scene. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  13. "Developer wanted to revamp Grangemouth". Construction Enquirer. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
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