Market Hall Reinstatement Project at the Town Hall
What are the Market Hall Reinstatement works?
The Town Hall is a Grade II listed building dating from 1859 which has been used for a variety of purposes over time. This has resulted in the subdivision of the ground floor into small offices and rooms which are now unfit for purpose.
As part of the HSHAZ project the Town Hall was transferred from Bath & North East Somerset Council and back into the hands of the community. Midsomer Norton Town Council have taken on the building to deliver the restoration project and then the building will be transferred to the Town Trust to be held for the people of Midsomer Norton.
The restoration project was aimed at breathing life back into the tired and under utilised GII Listed building and ensuring that it can serve the community for another 160 years, or more. By opening up the historic Market Hall internally this will create an event space for a range of civic occasions including markets. This function will be completed by the public realm works at The Island where a new Market Square is being built. The project not only reinstates the Market Hall but restores the whole building to its former glory, removing unsympathetic interventions and creating much needed facilities for the Town Council and community as a whole.
The restoration of the Market Hall is currently underway and the contractors, Artelia ANG, have been working to remove the modern subdivisions from the Town Hall to reveal the original Market Hall space, install a new structural steel framework to support the assembly room floor and begin works to reinstate the grandeur of the building.
How is the High Street renewal programme supporting this project?
Through the HSHAZ project we have leveraged in significant external grant funding to help deliver this project and so far, the project has contributed £1,019,000. This was made up of three main funding pots: (1) the HSHAZ grant from Historic England, (2) grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, managed by the West of England Combined Authority and (3) contributions from the Community Infrastructure Levy – which is applied to new developments in the area, managed by Bath & North East Somerset Council.
