Hitchin Town Hall Awarded £850,000 Funding Bid

Hitchin Town Hall on Brand Street will be given a new lease

of life thanks to Hitchin Initiative securing £850,000 of funding from The

Community Builders' Fund. 

The £850,000 funding will be used along with a £3.5million

investment from North Hertfordshire District Council (NHDC). 

New facilities at the grade II listed building will include

a new North Herts Museum, a revamped community space for weddings, festivals

and community events, along with smaller meeting rooms, all which will be available

to hire.  There will also be a new cafe

and on-site catering facilities. 

As well as new facilities the building will be improved throughout

with updated toilets, improved access and significant changes aimed at improving

visitor experience whilst preserving the fabric of the iconic building.

The bringing together of Hitchin and Letchworth museums, on

the Hitchin Town Hall site, is estimated to deliver annual savings of £160,000

a year to NHDC in running costs, as well as providing wide-scale benefits to

the community.

Brent Smith, Chairman of Hitchin Initiative said "This

has been a marvellous team effort involving all of Hitchin’s community groups.

“I want to pay special tribute to Morag Norgan for leading

our negotiating team, David Leal-Bennett for his sterling work in producing our

financial model and, of course, to our Town Centre Manager, Keith Hoskins, for

seeing us through this long process".

Keith Hoskins commented "This is a major investment in

the social fabric of Hitchin and a tribute to the true community partnership

that is embodied in Hitchin Initiative.

“The Initiative is grateful to Councillors and Officers for

their continued support, guidance and commitment to the project.

“The retention of a museum in Hitchin and the refurbishment

of our major civic venue is excellent news for the community and for the

economy of the town.”

Cllr Tricia Cowley, NHDC’s portfolio holder for community

engagement and rural affairs, said: “This is fantastic news, not only for

Hitchin but for the whole district. 

“North Hertfordshire can now look forward to a new, modern

museum while the community retains a superb venue for a wide range of

activities.  At the same time, the

Council will reduce ongoing running costs for local taxpayers, an especially

important factor given the current financial climate."

“Obviously there is a long way to go, but this was a crucial

step forward for the project as a whole. I want to thank Hitchin Initiative and

the other community groups we are working alongside for their efforts in

putting the bid together.  Now we can

move on to the next phase, hopefully obtaining planning permission and listed

building consent by the end of March 2011.”