A new look Town Hall

AMBITIOUS PLANS TO SECURE THE FUTURE
OF THIS HISTORIC BUILDING

Plans to sell the Town Hall at Bourne were finally shelved by Lincolnshire County Council after it was pointed out to them in 2013 that they had no legal right to dispose of it on the commercial market, the building having been financed in 1821 with money raised by public subscription.

Despite these objections, the search to find  a buyer continued and in September 2014 a private cinema operator actually inspected the site with the intention of opening one here but in the event decided that there was insufficient space for such a venture.

By this time, the council had been challenged by the Bourne web site and by Bourne Preservation Society on the grounds that a sale would be illegal, pointing out that a deed of trust vesting ownership in the people of Bourne must exist, thus prompting a search of the archives. Several weeks of investigation eventually produced the relevant document and after much legal deliberation, the council agreed that the building could not be sold and that it should be handed back to the people and a new charity formed to run it.

A series of consultations to test public reaction received a favourable response and a steering group working in co-operation with Lincolnshire County Council was formed to draw up a suitable scheme for its future. Their deliberations were finally announced in September 2016 when a new design concept was revealed with plans to convert the building into a theatre, cinema, bar and market space, the aim being to restore it as a public amenity to be used as a focal point for the arts and events in Bourne, run for and by the people.

The plans, pictured below. show how the first floor courtroom would be converted into a performance space capable of hosting shows and operating as a community cinema. The plans also include a hospitality and bar area at the front of the building.

A new internal staircase would provide access directly to the first floor, together with a lift for the disabled. The ground floor would be returned to its original 1821 configuration of a large open shambles providing flexible space for holding events such as regular craft markets or as a meeting place for a range of activities.

In order for the scheme to become reality, it would be necessary to obtain approval from the Charity Commission and to amend the original purpose of the building from the current use as a courtroom to the new purpose.

If approved by the Charity Commission, it is intended to set up a new charitable trust to take over the ownership and running of the building. The next most significant challenge would be to raise the funds to complete the restoration and conversion but the steering group was optimistic that with the potential to apply for grants to restore historic buildings the scheme was viable.

If successful, the team plans to reuse the original term Bourne Sessions House from when the Quarter or Petty sessions of the courts were held there almost 200 years ago. Cllr David Brailsford, chairman of the Bourne Town Hall Trust Management Committee of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “The steering group have made excellent progress in putting some proposals together that could bring this building back into regular use by the community. Now it is time for people in Bourne to have their say on these more detailed ideas. The town hall really does have the potential to be at the heart of the community in Bourne once again and play a role in the town’s future.”

Open days days displaying the plans were subsequently held at the Town Hall on two successive Saturdays, September 24 and October 1, from 10 am to 4 pm.

Meanwhile, the Town Hall continues to stand empty as it has done for the past four year and if past examples of the speed in which our local authorities move in such matters, then five or even six years would seem to be a modest estimate of the time which may elapse before we again see any public footfall within the walls of this Grade II listed building.

WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 2016