Stalybridge Civic Hall roof restoration cost soars to nearly £3m after works put on hold for months

The cost of fully restoring Stalybridge’s Civic Hall roof is predicted to soar to nearly £3 million after works were put on hold for months of Town of Culture events.

Tameside council chiefs have agreed to increase the budget for the restoration of the prominent Grade-Two listed building on Trinity Street, which has been the subject of plans to bring it back into use for five years.

Bosses say the Civic Hall roof is in ‘poor condition’ and following surveys in 2019 and 2021 has been found to be ‘beyond repair’.

Issues include gutters being choked with debris, decayed leadwork and widespread water leakage, as well as timber decay, and ‘heavy’ areas of vegetation and moss growth.

The budget for the project has grown substantially since it was first approved by the executive cabinet, as external costs increased and more problems with the roof were identified.

Back in 2021 it was expected it would cost £1.69m, which was already a huge increase on the initial budget of £558k.

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It had been anticipated that the restoration work would begin in March last year, running until November.

But leaders said the temporary closure of the main space within the Civic Hall would have made it unavailable for use during the programme of activities planned for the Town of Culture year.

“In order to realise the full potential of the Town of Culture award to Stalybridge, the roof restoration scheme was therefore put on hold,” the cabinet report states.

This resulted in ‘significant cultural and reputational benefit not only to Stalybridge but to the borough as a whole’, officers add.

However putting the work on hold has had serious cost