Perth City Hall

Perth City Hall is a civic building in King Edward Street, Perth, Scotland. Built in 1914, it is a Category B listed building.[1]

Perth City Hall
Perth City Hall, 2011
LocationPerth
Coordinates56.3959°N 3.4294°W / 56.3959; -3.4294
Built1914
ArchitectsHenry Edward Clifford and Thomas Melville Lunan
Architectural style(s)Classical style
Listed Building – Category B
Designated26 August 1977
Reference no.LB39318
Perth City Hall is located in Perth
Perth City Hall
Shown in Perth

The building served as a music hall before closing in 2005 and being replaced by Perth Concert Hall. Major renovations began in 2018 which included the introduction of a museum in part of the building.

It is set to reopen in 2024, and will be the new home to Perth Museum, in which the Stone of Destiny will be one of the items on display.

History
A c. 1956 view of the streetscape around City Hall. This view to the east shows Meal Vennel and St John's Place prior to the demolition of both to make way for St John's Shopping Centre

In the mid-19th century the administrative centre of the town was the old city chambers at the east end of the High Street.[2][lower-alpha 1] However, civic leaders needed a public hall in which to hold concerts and other public events and the first city hall, designed by William Macdonald Mackenzie, was built on the site of the old flesh, butter and meal markets in what became King Edward Street in 1844.[4][5] By the turn of the century the first city hall was in a very dilapidated state and, after a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling injuring several people, the building was demolished in 1908.[6]

The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Lord Provost, Councillor James Cuthbert, on 26 June 1909.[6] It was designed by Harry Edward Clifford and Thomas Melville Lunan in the Classical style, built at a cost of £25,000 and officially opened by the Lord Justice General, Lord Dunedin, on 29 April 1911.[6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing King Edward Street, which was laid out between 1901 and 1902;[7] the central section of three bays featured a large portico with three round-headed doorways with windows above flanked by full-height Ionic order columns in pairs.[1] Perth mercat cross was erected immediately to the west of City Hall in 1913, during the building's reconstruction.[8][9][10]

Margaret Thatcher addressed the Scottish Conservative Party conference in the hall, just a week after becoming Prime Minister, in May 1979.[11]

Beyond the mercat cross, the main entrance of St John's Centre was built facing City Hall: the remainder of St John's Place was demolished in 1987 to make way for its construction.[12]

Perth City Hall hosted concerts from a number of high-profile performers throughout its history, including The Who in 1965 and The Spencer Davis Group in 1966 through to Morrissey as late as September 2004.[13][14][15][16]

However, following the opening of the Perth Concert Hall in 2005, the city hall became vacant[17] and was placed on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland.[18]

In May 2012 Perth and Kinross Council submitted a proposal to demolish the hall and redevelop the site but this was rejected by Historic Scotland.[19] The council then sought architectural proposals for the re-design of the existing building and the short-listed proposals were put on display in June 2017.[20]

Perth Museum

In January 2019 BAM Construction began work on a £30 million programme of works to convert the city hall into a new heritage and arts attraction based on a design by Mecanoo.[21][22] The new attraction will incorporate displays on the Stone of Destiny and the Kingdom of Alba.[23]

In December 2020, the Scottish Government announced that the Stone of Destiny would be relocated to the hall by 2024.[24]

A competition to name the building's forthcoming museum section was launched in March 2022,[25] with the winning name being "Perth Museum", with 60% of the votes.[26]

See also

Notes
  1. The old city chambers were replaced by the Municipal Buildings also at the east end of the High Street in 1881.[3]

References
  1. Historic Environment Scotland. "City Hall, King Edward Street, St John's Place and Kirkside (Category B Listed Building) (LB39318)". Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  2. "Perth Burgh Chambers". Made in Perth. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  3. "Perth Municipal Buildings". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. "Perth City Hall, King Edward Street, Perth, PH1 5UG" (PDF). Historic Environment Scotland. 2 May 2012. p. 2. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  5. Gifford, John (2007). Perth and Kinross (Buildings of Scotland Series). Yale University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0300109221.
  6. "Council archives put Perth City Hall in the picture". Daily Record. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  7. Perth, A City Again, Duncan. J. (2012), p. 299
  8. "Civic History of Perth from Medieval Times". Perth Civic Trust. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  9. Perth, South Inch, Cromwellian Citadel - Canmore.org.uk
  10. Cromwell's Citadel at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 August 2012)
  11. "Speech to Scottish Conservative Party Conference | Margaret Thatcher Foundation". Margaretthatcher.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  12. St John's Shopping Centre – Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Francis Hindes Groome (1901)
  13. Smith, Kenny (21 June 2019). "Broadcaster Stuart Cosgrove is full of Northern soul".
  14. "The Who This Month! 1965". www.thewhothismonth.com.
  15. "Funeral of well-known Perth musician". Daily Record. 11 March 2011.
  16. "Morrissey Concert Setlist at City Hall, Perth on September 3, 2004". setlist.fm. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  17. "Perth City Hall History". Perth and Kinross Council. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  18. "Perth City Hall, King Edward Street, Perth". Buildings at Risk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  19. "Perth City Hall demolition plan rejected by Historic Scotland". BBC. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  20. "Architects' designs for Perth City Hall unveiled". BBC. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  21. "Perth City Hall". Perth and Kinross Council. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  22. "Perth City Hall transformation plan gets final approval". Scottish Construction Now. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  23. "New images reveal how Perth City Hall will be transformed". The Courier. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  24. "Stone of Destiny to return to 'spiritual home' of Perth". The Herald. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  25. "Public asked for to help name Perth City Hall's new museum". The Courier. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  26. "'The obvious choice': public vote for new Perth museum to be named 'Perth Museum'". the Guardian. 7 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
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