Oldham Civic Centre is a municipal building in West Street,

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, England.

History

The low-level western section of the Civic Centre was originally built as offices for the housing and social services departments as well as the Regional Health Authority and was completed in 1962. The facility was extended to include a 15-storey tower, designed by Cecil Howitt & Partners and built by

Henry Boot Henry Boot (1851–1931) was the founder of Henry Boot PLC. Henry Boot was the eldest surviving son of Charles and Ann Boot. He was born on 9 December 1851 in Heeley, a small village two miles outside Sheffield. Henry's father had described him ...

so enabling the council to move out of the aging Oldham Town Hall into the enlarged complex. The enlarged complex, which incorporated an event and conference venue known as the "Queen Elizabeth Hall" intended to commemorate the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, was officially opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

on 1 March 1977. The facility had its own

cold war The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

nuclear bunker built to protect senior councillors, council officers, police officers, engineers, doctors and communications experts in the event of a nuclear attack. The tower in the facility, which now forms the headquarters of the

Metropolitan Borough of Oldham The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Oldham, The borough had a population of 237,628 making it the seventh-largest district by population ...

, is high. The only other structure of comparable height and scale is the Church of St Mary with St Peter at the opposite (i.e. east) end of the town centre. In January 1982

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

became the first snooker player to achieve a televised

maximum break A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...

in a match against John Spencer in the Lada Classic at the Civic Centre. The

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

awarded during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to Sergeant John Hogan, who was born in

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Old ...

, currently displayed in the Civic Centre, was presented to Oldham Council in October 1983.

References

{{Authority control City and town halls in Greater Manchester Buildings and structures in Oldham Government buildings completed in 1977