£3m earmarked to reopen landmark Hereford building

About £3m of government money will also be spent on the building if it is chosen to house a new library

£3m has been earmarked to reopen a landmark city building after part of its roof collapsed three years ago.

Hereford's Grade II* listed Shirehall has been largely out of use since the collapse.

Herefordshire Council wants to reopen the building which used to house two courtrooms and a custody suite as well as the Assembly Hall music venue.

The sum is included in a review of capital spending which is set for cabinet approval on Thursday.

The authority said the money would be spent in the next financial year to "fund the minimum works required to get the building open and operational again".

A "care leavers base" will also be created within an annex with £100,000 spent this financial year.

The figure is on top of about £1.2m still to be spent on the St Peter's Square building from earlier agreed capital budgets, a report for this week's meeting said.

Underspends from other council capital projects will also be reallocated.

The investment is separate to a further £3m, largely from a government-funding package for the city, to turn part of the building into a library and learning centre.

In the summer, the building was chosen as the preferred option for the project.

Cabinet members had voted for a planned library in the Maylord shopping centre to be halted while it looked at other options. The Conservative authority said moving it to Shirehall would revitalise a noted building.

The administration will make a final decision between the two later this month.

The previous administration decided last November not to pursue funding the buildings' restoration. It followed other financial pressures and a report which identified defects and accessibility issues which would require a further £6.6m to fix.