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Southend Civic Centre

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Municipal building in Southend, Essex, England

Southend Civic Centre
Southend Civic Centre
LocationVictoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea
Coordinates51°32′41″N 0°42′32″E / 51.5448°N 0.7089°E / 51.5448; 0.7089
Built1967
ArchitectPatrick Burridge
Architectural style(s)International Style
Southend Civic Centre is located in EssexSouthend Civic CentreShown in Essex

Southend Civic Centre is a municipal building in Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. The structure holds the chamber for Southend-on-Sea City Council and houses the council's offices. Originally the Civic Centre incorporated the whole development of municipal buildings located between Carnarvon Road and Southend Central Museum.

History

The first municipal building in Southend was the municipal offices in Clarence Road completed in 1883. Following significant population growth, largely associated with the status of Southend as a seaside resort, the area became a municipal borough in 1892 and a county borough in 1914. As the responsibilities of the council increased, it secured additional office accommodation around Southend, but in the 1940s, the civic leaders decided to co-locate all its staff in one location. The site they selected on the east side of Victoria Avenue was occupied by three large private houses and by the former Westcliff High School, which had been purchased by the council as a planned site for a new further education college. The Civic Centre would encompass a new police station (that opened in 1962), a courthouse (that opened in 1966), council offices and chamber, a new College (that opened in 1971) and a Library (that opened in 1974). The planned fire station for the site was dropped and it built in Sutton Road.

The new buildings were designed by the borough architect, Patrick Burridge, in the International Style. The Council offices and chamber was built in concrete and glass and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 31 October 1967. The design involved a 16-storey rectangular tower block with 20 bays facing onto Victoria Avenue and 10 bays at either end; the council chamber was contained in a separate two-storey structure built to the south west of the main building.

A fountain, which took the form of three stone slabs located around a stone trough, was designed by William Mitchell and placed in the civic square adjacent to the civic centre at the time of its opening. The three slabs evoked local history by displaying carvings of the borough coat of arms, a local fisherman and a monk from Prittlewell Priory.

The council also commissioned a bronze sculpture entitled "Leda and the Swan" which was designed by Lucette Cartwright. It was initially placed outside the Court House further south along Victoria Avenue but when councillors decided to relocate the sculpture to the civic square there was a backlash from protestors who objected to the sexual nature of the artist's work which depicted the thunder god, Zeus, in the form of a swan, raping a woman. The sculpture was initially moved to the courtyard of the Palace Theatre in Westcliff-on-Sea and but it was later relocated to the mayor's residence where it was placed safely out of view.

A Union Flag, which had been raised at the civic centre on special occasions, including the death of the Queen Mother, was stolen from the civic centre, to much dismay, in April 2002.

References

  1. "Southend Timeline: Schools". Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Burrows, John William (1909). Southend on Sea and District Historical Notes. John H. Burrows & Sons. p. 143.
  3. "The Sanitary Record and Journal of Sanitary and Municipal Engineering". 1898.
  4. "Southend MB/CB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  5. Miles, William (1944). "Report of the Special Committee appointed to consider the subject of post-war development". County Borough of Southend-on-Sea. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  6. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1950. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  7. Carmichael, Harry (1995). With future and with past : a history of Southend High School for Boys on the occasion of its centenary. Southend High School for Boys. p. 30. ISBN 9780952592303.
  8. Ian Yearsley (2016). Southend in 50 Buildings. ISBN 9781445651897.
  9. "Southend Timeline: Opening Day". Archived from the original on 11 July 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. "Southend Civic Centre". Modern Mooch. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  11. "Southend Council's Civic Centre could move to high street". Basildon, Canvey, Southend Echo. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Southend's Civic Centre controversial fountain made an early splash". 17 October 2021.
  13. Cartwright, Lucette. "Leda and the Swann". Art UK. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  14. "Controversial rape statue in Southend secured in Art UK sculpture database". Basildon, Canvey, Southend Echo. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  15. "Mayor gives 'rape' statue a new home". Basildon, Canvey, Southend Echo. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  16. "Southend: Queen Mum tribute stolen". Daily Gazette. 4 April 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
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