Manchester Town Hall £325m restoration reaches halfway point

The town hall has been covered in a weathertight wrap since work began in 2020

One of the biggest heritage projects in the UK has reached its halfway point.

The £325m scheme to restore Manchester Town Hall to its Victorian splendour, improve accessibility and replace old piping, tiles, electrics and stonework, began in 2020.

Council leader Bev Craig said it aimed to do "justice" to the building and deliver "to the people of Manchester".

Project director Paul Candelent said he was eager to see the hall become the city's "heart and soul" again.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said since closing, the building had been encased in a white weather-tight wrap, which covered about 3,700 tonnes of scaffolding.

Underneath it, specialist workers have been carrying out the painstaking task of restoring every aspect of the Grade I listed building.

The scheme has seen the dismantling and rebuilding of 30 of the building's 34 chimneys and ongoing work to replace 140,000 roof tiles

The painstaking work aims to preserve the Victorian splendour and reinvigorate the town hall

Over the past two years, redundant pipes and cables have been stripped out and replaced, while engineering works have created cores for the installation of five new lifts with the aim of improving access.

Hundreds of leaded and timber sash windows have been refurbished and extensive stone repairs have been undertaken.

Lead architect Jamie Coath said accessibility was a key objective of the project and the lifts would serve every level, act as evacuation routes and "make sure that everybody can get to all the interconnecting spaces".

The council said the scheme had created 237 new jobs and 123 apprenticeships so far

Five lifts will improve accessibility to all levels

In October, the council was told the £325m project may require an extra £17m and could be delayed by several months.

Ms Craig said the council had been "clear from the beginning that we wanted to have a restoration project that did justice to the beautiful building, but also delivered to the people of Manchester and that's why social value has been so important and at the heart of everything we do".

"From the spend that we have in our local economy, right through to the creation of over 200 new jobs, over 100 new apprenticeships and thousands of opportunities for pupils in Manchester to learn from what we're doing, social value runs at the very heart of what we do," she said.

"Everyone in our city is proud of Manchester Town Hall and I'm proud of how the work to restore Manchester Town Hall is delivering for Manchester people."