First look at restored Rochdale Town Hall

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Rochdale Town Hall closed in 2020 to allow the work to take place and is due to reopen in March

After more than three years the scaffolding is down and Rochdale Town Hall is standing proud as the centerpiece of the town once again.

You have to step inside to appreciate the real grandeur and history of this great building

Opened in 1871, the town hall is Grade 1 listed and one of the finest Victorian buildings of it's kind in the country.

The council said the project would bring rooms into use which were previously hidden from public view

Experts along with a team of 500 volunteers have worked since 2020 painstakingly stripping back and cleaning walls, glass, and paintings to restore it to it's former glory

Volunteer Alison Iveson said "you are seeing it now as you would have done in 1871 when the Town Hall opened. It is much improved, over the years it was very dark because of years of pollution and cigarette smoke in here and there were several layers of varnish.

The restoration would also allow the hall to operate as a tourist attraction for the first time in its 153-year history

"The conservators and the volunteers have worked really hard to remove all those layers so the difference is stunning, you can see all the panels here you could barely see the detail on them before the woodwork up there you couldn't see the colours on it, the stain glass was dirty, but now you are seeing the colours really coming through.

It has been a mammoth task, costing nearly nine million pounds and funded by the National Lottery heritage fund.

Some of the specialist work has concentrated on the numerous stain-glass windows that have all been and all have been carefully cleaned and conserved.

A team of experts and volunteers have come together to restore the building’s incredible rooms

Veronica Smith, stained Glass Conservator said "the windows are vast and need a lot of attention and hard work to get them back to what they were, they are all cleaned with cotton wool so it took about two weeks per window.

"In the great hall they have all the Kings and Queens of England up to Queen Victoria, she was the monach when the building was finished"

500 volunteers have been part of the restoration

The wait is nearly over for the people of Rochdale and the tourists who are expected to come here from miles around to enjoy the history of the town Hall.

Councillor Neil Emmott, Leader of rochdale Council said "it's going to be a huge boost for Rochdale bring people into the town centre and they can see the other attractions."

Over it's history the building has housed the police station, library and even hosted Suffragette meetings

Now it will be a tourist attraction for the first time in its 150 year history, and it will be a community space with a new restaurant expected to open later this year.

Staff and volunteers are still putting the final touches to the grand hall and dusting off the staircases.

It will be free to visit the town Hall, the doors open to the public on 3rd March