Moray Council reveals its plans for Elgin Town Hall
Folk turned out in good numbers today to view what’s in store for the region’s largest entertainment venue.
An open day at Elgin Town Hall gave the public its first chance to view the redesign being planned for the building, which could be begin as early as next year.
Opinions amongst the people spoken to by The Northern Scot were divided.
Some believe the proposals go too far, others not far enough, while a further camp were left impressed by what they had viewed.
Stuart MacKellar, a partner at Inverness-based LDN Architects, has been the lead consultant on the redesign.
He said: “Most people like the interior of the town hall but think it looks a bit austere.
“We’ve tried to refresh the building and take some of the vibrancy that goes on inside and show that on the outside as well.”
The redesign will see the current entrance closed and the foyer area turned into a bar.
It also includes two extensions, the first of which represents the most obvious change to what’s there at the moment.
Built at the side, this will house a brand new foyer area which will be accessed by two completely new entrances.
The second extension will be built beside the current bar and will become a second smaller performance space in addition to the main auditorium
In order that more events can take place at once, more doors and walls will be put up inside to separate the areas.
Meanwhile, the cladding on the building’s modernist exteriors will be updated.
The town hall first opened in 1961, having been built for the princely sum of £69,000.
Among those present today was Lorna Castle who was shocked to find out that the town hall has now become a listed building as she can remember a time beforehand when the site used to be a hostel.
She said: “I think the plans look really good. I expected there to be more changes but I suppose there’s only so much you can do if a building is listed.”
Linda, who used to work at Moray College, is a member nowadays of the Elgin BALL group which meets upstairs in the venue’s supper room on Wednesdays. She added: “I’m glad they are doing something to separate the spaces because it can get a bit noisy at times.
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“But, most of all, I’m very happy that all the talk of the town hall closing is in the past. The volunteers who run the place now are doing a great job.”
Retired serviceman Sel Williams, who’d come along with his wife Rosie, said: “I think they’re doing the best they can with limited resources. Everyone can have a wishlist as long as their arm but things have to be paid for.
“In the circumstances I think what they’ve come up with is quite imaginative. I like the new foyer extension and it’s good they’re making it easier for more than one event to take place here at once. What’s particularly nice to see is that they asking the people what they think.”
Evidence of this approach could be seen by the sheets of paper hung up inviting people to comment.
One written message stated: “Looks great”. Another simply asked: “Cafe?”
Sel’s wife Rosie, who used to be a window dresser, broadly liked what‘s being proposed but wished things were going further.
She said: “I’m a music fan so I was hoping the capacity would be increased.
“Some good cover bands are coming here now, but if it could seat 1000 instead of about 600 it would encourage some bigger acts who play their own material.”
Stewart McCook was the venue’s caretaker for 22 years from the mid-1970s and brought up his family in a flat situated inside.
That flat has since been turned into offices, but Stuart was keen to come along today to view what the future holds for his old workplace.
The 81-year said: “You have to move with the times and it does need smartening up a bit, but I don’t believe there’s much wrong with Elgin Town Hall.
“In my opinion, if money’s tight, it could be spent to better effect in the town centre. The state of some of the buildings on the high street is a disgrace, and the same applies to some of the town’s roundabouts.”
Stuart’s grandson Harvey might be at the other end of the age spectrum but he was of a similar opinion.
The 20-year-old who’s one of the volunteers that run the town hall, said “I think the building is a part of our history and I don’t like to see it being altered so much.
“If it was my money I’d spend it on lots of small but important things, such as the sound system and getting new chairs which aren’t ripped. It needs refreshing rather than revamping.”
The money to pay for the planned redesign will come from the Moray Growth Deal.
This is partly funded by both the Scottish and UK governments and is mooted as beng worth £100 million to the region over the next decade.
Moray Council intends to spend £31million of that sum on creating what it calls the Elgin Cultural Quarter. That will see work to improve Cooper Park and also reopen Grant Lodge for some sort of community use.
However the first, and arguably the most important project within the cultural quarter, will be the town hall.
A notice board at the open day explained the council’s train of thought in initiating a revamp.
The venue, it stated, once stood as a “gateway building”, standing right on the edge of Elgin and welcoming people to the town.
Six decades later, the notice board adds, and it’s now sited on a “island” hemmed in by “traffic and commerce”.
