Town hall reopening on hold

The reopening of Bilston Town Hall has been put back for four months until May.

Bosses behind the painstaking near- £1million restoration were initially hoping to have it back to its former glory by the start of this year.

But, while most of the refurbishment is complete, they have extended the contract by five months to oversee Wolverhampton Homes' moves to set up a housing office in the ground floor of the Grade II-listed building. It is hoped that the hall will again be the jewel in the crown of the town.

The grand ballroom is set to come alive again with wedding receptions and other celebrations as in its heyday, while the Gazebo Theatre Company will make it its new permanent home.

Work, which started in April, 2005, is being carried out in conjunction with English Heritage and has included repairing the roof, stonework and windows.

The original clock has been fixed after seven years and a new striking glass entrance is being created.Chiefs originally set a date of September last year for the reopening and pushed it back until January. They are hoping to have all the work complete by May. Bilston regeneration boss Mark Connell said: "This is not a delay as such because the vast majority of the refurbishment is complete.

"Rather than Wolverhampton Homes having to sort out contractors to move in, we extended the contract already in place."

Mr Connell said the response from the public had been "fantastic".

Wolverhampton Homes manages around 21,000 council homes in the city.

By Victoria Nash