Progress is continuing to refurbish Johnstone Town Hall, Renfrewshire.

Work is continuing to progress on schedule with the steelwork frame having been risen from the ground since the start of the year.

Some £14.5m has been invested in the hall, which will have a new library, marriage suite, theatre and conference space, meeting rooms and a café. It will also contain offices for council housing and social work staff, as well as Police Scotland and Macmillan Cancer Support.

As a result of the work, additional investment is also being made in the town.

-- Advertisement --

For example, adjacent to the town hall site, is a shopping complex, and Renfrewshire Council has said the owners of the site have submitted a planning application to see new retail units created.

If the plans are approved, the layout of the existing Co-op store would be changed to include new retail units with improved shop fronts, as well as the removal of the existing roof canopies, plus the demolition of the empty and derelict offices upstairs.

Renfrewshire Council Leader Mark Macmillan, said: "The new Johnstone Town Hall is one of the most significant public-sector investments anywhere in Scotland just now.

"It was always our expectation that the project would be the catalyst for the wider regeneration of the town – and the prospect of further development shows that the project has created conditions in which private sector is willing to invest.

"When the new building opens, it will be a hub for life in Johnstone – bringing people into the town centre for work, as well as a wide range of civic and cultural events."

Johnstone Town Hall is expected to open in summer 2015.

(JP/IT)