Wolverhampton Civic Halls revamp hits six-month delay
The major revamp of Wolverhampton's Civic Halls will take six months longer than originally planned, it has emerged.
A £14.4 million refurbishment of the Grade II listed venue is currently under way and had been due for completion in May next year.
But it will now be October 2018 until both the Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall permanently reopen their doors.
Bosses at Wolverhampton council said ...[quote]
The refurbishment of the venues will see the overall capacity increase in both buildings, meaning they will be able to cater for a total of almost 5,000 people.
Improvements at the Civic Hall, in North Street, will see a new balcony installed at the rear of the venue.
A new glass-covered bar area will also be installed above the main entrance, servicing the new upper level.
The organ, which sits in the roof, will also be removed from the Civic Hall to enable better ventilation for fire safety and to make adjustments to the stage area in order to attract bigger shows to the venue.
Enabling works for the revamp were completed last year.
And in January family-owned Shaylor Group, based in Aldridge, was given the job of delivering the remainder of the scheme that will see major changes made to the Civic Hall and Wulfrun Hall in phases. That work began on January 20.
Both halls will reopen at their current capacity for a host of public events between October 21, 2017, and January 1, 2018, with big names like Status Quo, Jimmy Carr, John Bishop, Jon Richardson and Ed Byrne already booked in, as well as the Grand Slam of Darts.
The Civic Hall will then close again, while the Wulfrun Hall will remain open for events, with work continuing on construction of its new rear balcony during daytime hours.
Both halls are expected to be fully completed by October 15 next year.
The Civic Halls is the largest business in the Black Country’s creative and entertainment sector, generating £4.3 million of Gross Value Added (GVA) in the Wolverhampton economy.
The Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal fund has made a £6.6 million contribution towards the cost of the project.
