Coatbridge Municipal Buildings

Municipal building in Coatbridge, Scotland

Coatbridge Municipal Buildings

Coatbridge Municipal Buildings

Location| Dunbeth Road, Coatbridge
Coordinates| 55°51′49″N 4°01′18″W﻿ / ﻿55.8637°N 4.0217°W﻿ / 55.8637; -4.0217
Built| 1894
Architect| Alexander McGregor Mitchell
Architectural style(s)| Renaissance style

Listed Building – Category B

Official name| Dunbeth Road, Municipal Buildings, Including Boundary Walls, Railings, Gatepiers And Gates
Designated| 19 April 1993
Reference no.| LB23016

Shown in North Lanarkshire

Coatbridge Municipal Buildings, formerly Coatbridge Town Hall, is a municipal building in Dunbeth Road, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The building, which was the headquarters of Coatbridge Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.[1]

## History

[edit]

Following significant population growth in the late 19th century, particularly in the iron trade,[2] the burgh council decided to procure a town hall: the site they selected had formed part of the grounds of Dunbeth House,[3] the residence of William Weir, a close relative of the descendants of Alexander Baird who had founded William Baird & Co Ltd, iron founders, in Gartsherrie.[4] Weir donated the land for the town hall to the burgh council.[5]

The new building was designed by Alexander McGregor Mitchell in the Renaissance style, built in red sandstone ashlar and completed in 1894.[1][6] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with nine bays facing onto Dunbeth Road with the last three bays at each end slightly project forward; the left section, which was more elaborate than the other sections, originally featured a large portico with two pairs of Corinthian order columns supporting an entablature, a balustrade and two statues of lions; there was a bay window on the first floor and a pediment containing fine carvings in the tympanum.[7][8] The centre section featured a tall three-light window on the first floor and a shaped gable above.[1] The right hand section featured a doorway flanked by pilasters in the first bay and a bay window flanked by statues in niches on the second floor with a shaped gable above.[1] The statues, which depicted Justice and Vulcan, were sculpted by James Alexander Ewing[9] and James Charles Young respectively.[10] Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the main assembly hall, which contained an organ with four manuals and 55 stops, the latter of which had been designed and manufactured by Henry Willis & Sons.[11][12]

The main assembly hall hosted many concerts by leading performers including the Bee Gees on 28 October 1967.[13] However, the building was badly damaged in a fire later that year.[14][15] The centre and right sections of the front elevation survived the fire unscathed but the more elaborate left hand section was completely destroyed: it was replaced in a sympathetic style to a design by Launcelot H. Ross & Lindsay[6] with stonework which broadly mirrored the right hand section but without the doorway.[1] On the Kildonan Street elevation, rather than replicating the original stonework, a modern structure was constructed with a new main entrance.[1]

The building continued to serve as the headquarters of Coatbridge Burgh Council for much of the 20th century and, as Coatbridge Municipal Buildings, remained the local seat of government after the enlarged Monklands District Council was formed in 1975.[16] However, it ceased that role when North Lanarkshire Council was formed, with its headquarters at Motherwell, in 1996.[17] North Lanarkshire Council continued to use the building for workspace for various departments including education[18] and social services.[19] In March 2019 the council announced its intention, as part of a savings plan, to close the building and, in June 2020, it announced proposals to convert the building into 49 apartments at a cost of £11 million.[20] Detailed design work was authorised in February 2021.[21]

## See also

[edit]

* List of listed buildings in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f Historic Environment Scotland. "Dunbeth Road, Municipal Buildings, Including Boundary Walls, Railings, Gatepiers And Gates (LB23016)". Retrieved 28 March 2021.
2. ^ "Coatbridge". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
3. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1861. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
4. ^ "Records of William Baird & Co Ltd, iron founders, Gartsherrie" (PDF). North Lanarkshire Archives. p. 64. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
5. ^ "Coatbridge". Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. 1886. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
6. ^ a b "Coatbridge Municipal Buildings". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
7. ^ "Town Hall, Coatbridge". University of St Andrews. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
8. ^ "Old Coatbridge". Daily Record. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
9. ^ "James Alexander Ewing (1843-1900)". Glasgow Sculpture. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
10. ^ "James Charles Young (1839-1923)". Glasgow Sculpture. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
11. ^ "Details of Town Hall, Coatbridge, Scotland". Biographical Dictionary of the Organ. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
12. ^ "Original Willis". Herald Scotland. 23 February 1993. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
13. ^ "October 1967". Marmalade Skies. December 2010. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
14. ^ "Fire at Coatbridge Town Hall". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
15. ^ "Coatbridge Town Hall fire damage". Scran. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
16. ^ "Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
17. ^ "Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994". Legislation.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
18. ^ "North Lanarkshire Council inspection report". Education Scotland. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
19. ^ "Coatbridge Social Work Locality". North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
20. ^ "Plans to convert Coatbridge Municipal Buildings into new homes". Daily Record. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
21. ^ "Building Briefs". Scottish Construction Now. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

* v
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Coatbridge

* Albion Rovers F.C.
* Buchanan High School
* Cliftonhill
* Coatbridge College
* Coatbridge Irish
* Coatbridge Library
* Coatbridge Municipal Buildings
* Drumpellier Country Park
* History of Coatbridge
* Monkland Canal
* Sands MacSwineys GFC
* Summerlee Heritage Park

* Neighbourhoods:
* Carnbroe
* Glenboig
* Whifflet

* Railway stations:
* Blairhill
* Central
* Coatdyke
* Kirkwood
* Sunnyside
* Whifflet

* v
* t
* e

Places of interest in North Lanarkshire

* Airdrie Library
* Airdrie Observatory
* Airdrie Town Hall
* Airdrie Town House
* Bedlay Castle
* Broadwood Stadium
* Cambusnethan House
* Carfin Grotto
* Cliftonhill
* Coatbridge Library
* Coatbridge Municipal Buildings
* Coatbridge Sunnyside railway station
* Colzium
* Croy Hill
* Cumbernauld House
* Dalzell House
* Dalziel Park
* Drumpellier Country Park
* Duncarron
* Excelsior Stadium
* Fir Park
* Greenlink Cycle Path
* Jerviston
* M&D's
* Motherwell Civic Centre
* Motherwell Town Hall
* Murdostoun
* Newhouse Research Site
* North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre
* Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility
* Shottskirk
* Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
* St Ignatius Church, Wishaw
* Strathclyde Country Park

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