The future of the fire-damaged Walworth Town Hall will be discussed at a public meeting on April 5.
The meeting will be hosted by local group the Walworth Society at 7pm, and will be attended by Southwark Council’s leader, councillor Peter John, and chief executive Eleanor Kelly.
The Grade II listed hall, which dates back to 1865, was gutted by a fire in 2013.
The council first pledged to restore the building and make it a library and community hub.
But after the News revealed that costs to restore it would amount to £36m, the council has put three options to the public to vote on:
- Finding an alternative building in Elephant and Castle for the library and community services, and find a partner who will lease the hall and restore it.
- Work with English Heritage on a solution that uses the building’s facades. This would be cheaper and allow the council to run the library and other facilities, but would sacrifices some historic features.
- If the public feels committed to rebuilding the original structure, the project will have to be paused until the council can find the money, while still having to pay maintenance costs.
An ongoing public consultation will end on March 31.