People's Hall has so much potential

BID TO RESTORE 19TH CENTURY LISTED BUILDING TO ITS FORMER GLORY

- By GEORGE PALMER-SOADY

BUCKETS collect rain that drips through the ceilings, the wallpaper is cracking off, and there's no hot water.

It's not going to be an easy job restoring The People’s Hall building in Nottingham.

Yet a group of volunteers are determined to transform the now-derelict Grade II-listed building and bring it back to its former glory.

Once the home of an 18th century female entrepreneur “who was ahead of her time,’ the hall, in Heathcoat Street, Hockley, has served various purposes over the years.

Originally opened as the ‘School of Design’ in 1843 - now part of Nottingham Trent University - the building was renamed the People’s Hall in 1854 and became a space for working-class people to learn skills and socialise.

But in recent years, the grand lecture halls and rooms that make up the building have become derelict and forgotten.

The hall was even, until recently, on Historic England's “At Risk” register. But thanks to a project led by the Nottingham Historic Building Trust (NHBT) charity, the derelict structure could soon become something brilliant.

What exactly will it be used for, though? That's the question that remains unanswered, and one that the charity's chairperson, Toby Ebbs, could use a helping hand with.