Express & Star

Walsall Council House seats set for £27,500 refurbishment

Seating in the chamber Walsall Council’s historic main building will be refurbished after the authority gained the necessary heritage permission to carry out the project.

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Some of the seats in the main chamber at Walsall Council House which are set to be refurbished

Around £27,500 will be spent on carrying our repairs and upholstery work on the seats where major meetings including planning and full council are held.

The Grade II Listed Council House in Lichfield Street was built around 1905 and, apart from some running repairs, refurbishment work hasn’t been carried out on the chamber seating since.

Planners have now granted listed building consent for the work to be carried out.

Walsall Council House in Lichfield Street

The seating project is part of wider works taking place to upgrade the whole council house, including beefing up front desk security and introducing web cam facilities for meetings.

Back in February this year, when the budget was approved, opposition Labour councillors criticised the spend by the cash-strapped authority when cuts were being made to services but bosses said the work was necessary and legally required given the building’s heritage status.

The work will include fixed seating and free standing chairs being re-upholstered while cushions will be added to the hard benches in the public gallery.

The mayor or committee chair's seats in Walsall Council's main chamber

In a heritage statement Mark Newall, a partner at Baart Harries Newall architects, said: “Walsall Town Hall is a fine example of late Edwardian municipal architecture, constructed in the early years of the 20th century by J S Gibson, and Grade II listed.

“The listing description makes no mention of the building interiors but the chamber is one of the finest interior spaces in the building, along with the main stair hall and the main auditorium.

“I have not been commissioned to produce a statement of significance for the property, but from the listing description we can see that it is a fine example of Edwardian municipal architecture, with fine original interiors to the principal spaces.

“The chamber retains fine neo-classical plasterwork, and stone ionic column and pilasters.

Walsall Council's main chamber

“The heavy oak and leather fitted seating is commensurate with the period and style, and should be repaired as existing to maintain the heritage value of the building.

“Several of the seats have collapsed, and are unusable for safety reasons.

“These need to be repaired in original materials and style, and reupholstered with new dark green leather.

“The remaining seats have tired upholstery, and should be reupholstered to match the repaired work, as the fully matching scheme of fitting and decoration is central to the setting of the space.

“The bench seats in the viewing gallery are little used, as they are not upholstered, and are too uncomfortable for use. These should be provided with removable leather cushioning, in matching leather.”

  • An earlier version of this story used incorrect cost figures provided by the Local Democracy Reporting Service. This has now been corrected.

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