Wolverhampton Civic Hall: Extra £23.7m pledged for botched revamp bid
An extra multi-million pound budget has been signed off for the botched Civic halls revamp scheme.
Councillors gave the go-ahead for the £23.7m of extra cash needed to complete the project before it reopens in two years time.
It means £38.1m will now be spent on refurbishing the Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall despite council bosses initially setting aside just £14.4m.
During a Wolverhampton council meeting on Wednesday, Councillor John Reynolds said extra money was needed for the project to ‘secure the future for generations to come’.
The cabinet member for city economy said: “Clearly with a figure like this, it’s not something we have taken light-heartedly.
“An independent contractor confirmed the figure we are talking about here is approved for some projects nationwide. So, we know that these costs are as accurate as they possibly can be.
“It’s a much loved building. It’s a building that is not just loved locally.”
The Civic halls revamp - which will see extra seating across new balconies, improved and new bar and hospitality areas, ventilation, lifts and better access to the Wulfrun Hall – was originally due to cost £14.4 million.
But early ‘opening-up’ works revealed the budget was not large enough for the scope of work, with ‘significant structural changes’ needed and removal of asbestos.
Council bosses said the extra £23.7 million would come mainly from selling off land and buildings, with a ‘strong potential to secure external grants and funding from regional and national bodies’.
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Tory councillor for Penn Paul Singh claimed the project had been ‘mismanaged’ and said there was ‘no guarantee’ grants, funding and selling council assets would be successful.
He said: “This is a colossus project, really there is no excuse. This is public money, this is Wolverhampton residents’ money. Surely we should have been told about this from the word go.”
Cabinet member for resources Andrew Johnson said the council was ‘absolutely confident’ income generated from the Civic halls once reopened would cover any ‘gap’ in borrowing.
He agreed with colleagues that a full improvement and restoration scheme was needed, adding: “The alternative is a to have a redundant building siting in our city centre, which incurs us costs for many years to come.”
Major events booked at the Civic Hall such as Jason Manford and Sarah Millican will no longer be held at the venue but Wolverhampton council bosses said they were working with promoters to try and re-schedule the events elsewhere in the city.
Wolverhampton council confirmed the Civic halls will stay shut until 2020 in a bid to complete the project.
Revised designs for the major refurbishment of the Grade II listed venue were given planning permission in May last year as new structural findings during the preliminary works were addressed.
And back in April the building’s facelift was then only due to cost the original £14 million.
A new balcony at the Wulfrun Hall was hoping to increase the building’s capacity by 230 with the redesign said to be able to safeguard 637 jobs in the wider economy.
It was reported at the time that the works would also potentially attract an additional 330,000 visitors a year, resulting in a further 120 direct and indirect jobs.
Speaking on the decision to put more money into the project, Labour councillor Milkinderpal Jaspal said: “I think it needs to be done - it is an iconic building for the city and we have got to protect it.
"The first thing we have go to decide is whether we need a building like that in the city and the answer is yes.
“I went to the Ken Dodd concert and it was packed out - we should maintain and retain it.
“The key thing is to retain buildings like that in the city which are well used.
“I have known the city centre since I was a little boy and the Civic Hall, the art gallery, they are great buildings - they are wonderful and they give Wolverhampton something.
“It is definitely worth protecting and it is a key asset - I have no qualms about it.”
