Victoria Hall building work 'to double capacity'

Work on one of Glossop's historic buildings will double its capacity once completed, High Peak Borough Council has said.

Renovations at Victoria Hall - which was built in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee - are set to begin next year, with the authority spending £487,500 "to support the hall's development".

An additional £125,000 will be provided by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Once completed the capacity will increase to hold 120 people instead of 60, with the hall due to reopen in spring.

Victoria Hall was donated to Glossop by Herbert Rhodes and Edward Partington, and was planned to provide a free library, an art school, a museum and a lecture hall.

The council holds it in a charitable trust, which it says means it has to "in accordance with the principal intentions of the trust".

Derbyshire County Council has used the ground floor as a library up to 2018, and before it was closed the first floor housed a lecture hall and the basement provided space for youth groups.

As well as increased capacity, the work will re-establish the original west entrance on Fauvel Street and provide new ground-floor toilets, as well as making it accessible for the first time.

The council said the volunteer management company for the site was looking for more people "who can contribute time or expertise" and help run its community arts programme.

Damien Greenhalgh, deputy council leader and executive member for regeneration, tourism and leisure, said: "It's one of Glossop's most important heritage buildings, and I know from my own happy memories here just how special it is to local people."

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