Poole Civic Centre is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

municipal building in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. Since 7 October 2019 the building has been a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Also sometimes known as Poole Town Hall, the civic centre was the headquarters of

Poole Borough Council Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming adminis ...

until 2019.

History

The first town hall in Poole was a structure in Market Street, now known as the Poole Guildhall, which was completed in 1761. After deciding that the guildhall was too cramped, civic leaders decided to procure a new civic centre: the site they selected was open land facing the junction between Parkstone Road and Sandbanks Road. Foundation stones for the new building were laid by the

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, Sir William Neal, and the mayor of Poole, Alderman John Arthur Rogers on 16 May 1931. It was designed in the

Art Deco style Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

by L. Magnus Austin, built by Whitelock and Co. of Branksome and was officially opened by the

Earl of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his fa ...

on 28 May 1932. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with nine bays with the end bays canted forwards; the central section of three bays featured a full-height archway with a doorway on the ground floor and a recess on the first and second floors containing a balcony on the first floor and windows on the first and second floors; there was an open pediment containing the borough

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

above the archway. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber, the mayor's parlour and the courtroom. The town hall continued to serve as the headquarters of

and became the local seat of government of the enlarged

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

of Poole in 1974. An extension to the rear, creating an enclosed courtyard, was added in the 1980s. The building went on to become the home of the new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, in April 1997. In 2016 proposals were considered which involved demolition of the building and redevelopment of the site for

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

, but the plans were rejected. Instead civic leaders decided to improve the building and some £250,000 was spent on refurbishment, including disabled access, baby changing facilities and areas for customer interviews, later that year. The building ceased to be the local seat of government when

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...

, an enlarged unitary authority, was created in April 2019. It was reported in August 2020 that the new council intended to sell the building for redevelopment. In 2023 it was reported the council intend to convert the building into a "150-room boutique hotel" with 360 new homes built on the rest of the site.

Park and ride

The car park adjacent to the building was used as a mobile testing centre during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and, in 2021, it became a

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

facility.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Grade II listed buildings in Dorset Government buildings completed in 1932 Buildings and structures in Poole City and town halls in Dorset Art Deco architecture in England