Ballymena Town Hall

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Ballymena Town Hall
Ballymena Town Hall (geograph 6611054).jpg
Ballymena Town Hall
LocationBridge Street, Ballymena
Coordinates 54°51′51″N6°16′35″W / 54.8641°N 6.2764°W / 54.8641; -6.2764
Built1928
Architect Jones and Kelly
Architectural style(s) Neoclassical style
Listed Building – Grade B1
Official nameTown Hall, Bridge Street / Mill Street (Museum and Arts Centre), Ballymena, County Antrim
Designated22 November 1988
Reference no.HB 07/16/019
United Kingdom Northern Ireland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Shown in Northern Ireland

Ballymena Town Hall is a municipal structure in Bridge Street in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The town hall, which is the headquarters of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, is a Grade B1 listed building. [1]

History

The first municipal building in the town was a market hall in Bridge Street which was completed in 1684. [2] It featured a steeple which was 60 feet (18 m) high, [3] and was later referred to by the local member of parliament, Sir Robert Adair, as one of the "Seven Towers" of Ballymena. [4] On 7 June 1798, during the 1798 rebellion, a force of about 10,000 United Irishmen led by James Dickie, stormed and burned the market hall, killing three of its defenders and forcing the surrender of the local yeomanry forces commanded by Robert Davison. [5] [3] The market hall, which by then also contained the local post office as well as the council chamber, burnt down in 1919. [4]

In the early 1920s, civic leaders decided to create a new municipal building on the same site. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the Duke of York on 24 July 1924. [6] It was designed by Jones and Kelly in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone by John Carson at a cost of £26,400 and was officially opened by the Duke of Abercorn on 20 November 1928. [7] The design involved a symmetrical frontage at the junction of Bridge Street and Mill Street; the corner section featured a doorway on the ground floor and a sash window on the first floor flanked by full-height Doric order columns supporting an entablature inscribed with the dates "1684–1928"; on the second floor there were three lancet windows and at roof level there was a two-stage clock tower with a canopy. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber. [8]

The town was advanced to the status of municipal borough, with the town hall as its headquarters, in 1937. [4] The town hall continued to serve as the meeting place of the enlarged Ballymena District Council after it was formed in 1973. [9] As part a major programme of works costing £16.8 million, which were carried out to an architectural design by Consarc Design with museum design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the town hall was refurbished and extended to create an arts venue. [10] It was officially opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall as the Braid Arts & Museum Centre, after the local river, on 21 May 2008. [11] The town hall remained the local seat of government following the formation of the enlarged Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in April 2015. [12]

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References

  1. ↑ "Town Hall, Bridge Street / Mill Street (Museum and Arts Centre), Ballymena, County Antrim (HB 07/16/019)". Department for Communities. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "1928: Town Hall, Ballymena, County Antrim". Archiseek. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 Lewis, Samuel (1837). "A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland". S. Lewis & Co.
  4. 1 2 3 "Ballymena : A brief history of the town". Ballymena Borough Council. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Northern Ireland Battlefield Register" (PDF). Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Ballymena Town Hall, 1924: Contemporary Accounts of the Laying of the Foundation Stone by HRH the Duke of York on Thursday, 24 July 1924. Ballymena Borough research series. 1990.
  7. ↑ "County Andrim, Ballymena, Town Hall". Dictionary of Irish Architects. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Refurbishment of the Council Chamber at The Braid in Ballymena". Martin and Hamilton. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "...the Charter of the Corporation of the Borough of Ballymena shall have effect in relation to the District of Ballymena... the name in the Charter shall be Ballymena Borough Council." "No. 3385". The Belfast Gazette . 31 August 1973. p. 179.
  10. ↑ "Braid Arts Centre". MB Architectural. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Building for the Arts in Ballymena". The Arts Council. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "About us". Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
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