“We wanted to capture and share the journey of all those who have taken part” Council unveils Town Hall photo exhibit

A new council exhibition will show off photos taken during the delayed and £76m over-budget restoration of Manchester Town Hall.

The exhibition, which will be displayed in the Central Library, opened last week and will be in situ until June 2025.

Manchester Town Hall renovation

The grade-I listed Town Hall is expected to reopen more than a year after that.

Work was first expected to finish this year, but fell behind due to the pandemic and staff ‘discovering’ a multitude of previously unknown problems.

Deputy leader, Coun Garry Bridges, explained why the restoration will cost £430m: “All throughout we’ve been learning more, and quite often it’s only when you’re on-site that you discover some of those [problems].

“That has built in additional costs as we’ve gone through that, largely to do with the sheer scale and also the complexity of the programme.”

But the biggest cost is ‘financial claims from contractors’, council bosses add.

It’s understood sub-contractors can claim for compensation with delays, arguing they incur extra costs on equipment hire and lose the ability to work elsewhere.

Council battling ‘financial claims from contractors’

The council says it’s ‘robustly negotiating 80 such claims to ensure a fair outcome’.

There’s also no guarantee more money won’t be required. Project managers accept they ‘face a lot of potential risks’, which could create more delays and lead to more compensation claims.

Now, three weeks after the overspending and delays were revealed, the authority has unveiled a new photography exhibition for the project.

Manchester Town Hall photography exhibition

It’s trying to shine a light on the people behind the work.

Thirty large portraits and 60 smaller contextual images show the pride the restoration team holds in being able to lovingly give new life to the Town Hall.

“This new exhibition is our way of ensuring that today’s artisans will not be forgotten,” added Coun Bridges.

“Just as the skills of those who helped create the building in the 19th Century have left the city a magnificent legacy, so will today’s project team. Working on this project is a real labour of love.

“We knew from the outset that this was going to be a mammoth task, and we wanted to capture and share the journey of all those who have taken part.  We wanted to celebrate the role of all the workers on the team and show as much of the range of trades – modern and not–so–modern – required to complete the transformation of our iconic Town Hall.”

You can find out more about Manchester Town Hall renovation by clicking here