Published on Thursday, 17th October 2024
Cabinet have agreed to continue work to explore the future use of City Hall which will include gathering public thoughts and opinions.
Last night (Wednesday, 16 October), they considered a report setting out options to transform the historic, Grade 2* listed, heritage building.
The report recommends that Norwich City Council business and its civic activities remain at City Hall.
The first option would see the building refurbished to provide better public access, fit for purpose council office space, grade A lettable space and event and conference opportunities.
The second option would go a step further by adding an extension to the rear, as intended in the original 1938 plans for the building, that could be used for offices, homes, or a hotel.
This option also proposes a new, publicly accessible, landscaped courtyard to the rear and improvements to the public spaces around City Hall.
Cabinet agreed they would like the next stage of work to be done to develop a business case around these options.
Council Leader, Cllr Mike Stonard, said: “We’re still at an early stage and a significant part of what comes next will be gathering feedback from our residents, businesses, partners, and the voluntary and creative sectors.
“It’s vital that we hear from the people of Norwich on this so we can make the best decisions for the city about how we continue to move forward.
“We’re taking the time to plan this now and expect to be getting underway with these conversations early next year.
“We have a huge opportunity here to create a future for the building that boosts the entire city, with the potential to create up to £102million in economic benefits, depending on the scale of the option eventually taken forward.
“These benefits for Norwich would come from creating improved amenities that attract more use and increase spending in the city over the lifetime of the development.”
The agreement to develop a business case will also now see the council obtain the many architectural, technical, and financial reports needed to prepare for any change to a listed, heritage building like City Hall.
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