Govan Town Hall
| Govan Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Govan Town Hall | |
| Location | Govan |
| Coordinates | 55°51′24″N 4°18′01″W / 55.8566°N 4.3004°W |
| Built | 1901 |
| Architect | Thomson and Sandilands |
| Architectural style(s) | Beaux-Arts style |
Listed Building – Category B | |
| Designated | 15 December 1970 |
| Reference no. | LB33340 |
  Shown in Glasgow | |
Govan Town Hall is a former municipal facility on Govan Road, Govan, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Govan Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.[1]
History
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The building was commissioned to replace the old municipal offices in Orkney Street which had been designed by John Burnet and completed in 1866.[2][3] After rapid industrial expansion and population growth in the local area,[4] civic leaders found this arrangement was inadequate and they decided to procure a purpose-built town hall: the site they selected was open land at the corner of Summertown Road and Govan Road.[5]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid in September 1898.[6] It was designed by Thomson & Sandilands in the Beaux-Arts style, built at a cost of £60,000[7] and officially opened by the Provost of Govan, James Kirkwood, in October 1901.[7] The design involved a symmetrical frontage with thirteen bays along Govan Road with the end bays projecting forward; the central section of three bays featured an arched doorway on the ground floor; there were three windows behind a tetrastyle Ionic order portico on the first floor and a large pediment containing a carved tympanum above.[1] At roof level there was a large dome with a colonnaded cupola on top.[1] There were several portrait busts, designed by Archibald Macfarlane Shannan, placed on the Govan Road elevation of the building.[8] Internally, the principal rooms were a council chamber in the eastern section of the building, together with a large public hall with a grand organ and a smaller "upper hall", both in the western section.[9][10] The grand organ was designed and manufactured by Norman and Beard and had four manuals.[11]
The town hall was the headquarters of Govan Burgh Council until Glasgow annexed Govan, after a series of anti-amalgamation demonstrations, in 1912.[12][13] The building was subsequently used by the social services department of Glasgow Corporation: the ornate decoration in the two halls in the western section, including a magnificent proscenium arch inside the public hall, which had also been designed by Shannon, was completely destroyed during a refurbishment of the building in 1973.[1]
In the early 2000s, Gillian Berrie, a film producer, secured access to the building and raised £3.5 million to convert it into a film production facility known as Film City Glasgow.[14] The works involved refurbishment of the upper hall, installation of a Dolby theatre and upgrading the eastern section (i.e. front) of the building for use by creative media businesses.[14]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Historic Environment Scotland. "401 Govan Road, Summertown Road Carmichael Street 1-11 Merryland Street (odd numbers) Former Govan Town Hall (Category B Listed Building) (LB33340)". Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Govan, Glasgow, Architecture and History". Archived from the original on 31 August 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Glasgow, 18-20 Orkney Street, Govan Municipal Buildings (260272)". Canmore. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 418.
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1895. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Govan Town Hall and Municipal Buildings". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Govan Town Hall". The Glasgow Story. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Archibald Macfarlane Shannan". Glasgow Sculpture. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Govan Town Hall". The Govan Story. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Scotland's Industrial Souvenir" (PDF). Trustees of the Clyde Navigation. p. 67. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ^ "Dictionary of Organs and Organists". George Augustus Mate & Sons. 1921. p. 212. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
- ^ "Annexation Battles". Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Alderson, Reevel (7 August 2012). "How Glasgow annexed Govan and Partick 100 years ago". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Inspiration – Film City Glasgow". filmcityglasgow.com. Retrieved 10 August 2016.