HEREFORD Town Hall’s future looks uncertain, with Herefordshire Council looking to rid itself of the expensive building.

With work to bring the St Owen Street building up to scratch estimated to cost up to £6 million, Hereford Town Council is trying to think how to raise the funds.

Herefordshire Council, which owns the town hall, says it is trying to deal with a deficit of more than £11 million, and wants the building off its books.

The town hall hasn’t always been in Herefordshire’s control.

It was built in 1904 for the-then city council, but a local government shake-up in 1998 saw the building transferred to the newly formed Herefordshire Council along with all the rest of the city council’s assets.

It wasn’t until 2000 that the city council was re-created, but only as part of the least influential parish council tier of local government. Only the allotments it once controlled were returned to its ownership.

Hereford City Council said the town hall could have transferred back at that time, but it rented rooms there from Herefordshire Council instead. 

Since then, the city council has used the building for its offices, mayor’s parlour, silver museum and tourist information centre.

The city council said it was offered the town hall about 10 years ago for £2 million, but it didn’t see this a viable offer. More recently it was offered it for free – but needs to raise about £1.8 for immediate repairs, and another £4.2 for work over a five-year period.

The city council said it does want to try and secure a future for the building, and was looking at forming a charitable trust, or working with an existing one, to make securing grant funding easier.