The future of Brighton Town Hall

The iconic Brighton Town Hall was built in 1830. The landmark building in the centre of the city was originally home to Brighton Town Commissioners and also housed the Police Station.

Nowadays it’s a place residents usually visit for wedding ceremonies and the registration of births, deaths and marriages. The building also hosts full council meetings and is a hub for coordinating electoral events.

Despite the activity and central location, the grade two listed structure is not being used to its full potential and has ever increasing maintenance needs which need to be looked at.

We’re looking at what we can do to improve the building and develop a new ‘civic hub’. Ideas include how to make better use the building and to provide value for money.  

We are keen to see the existing building renovated with a focus on more civic activity. The popular wedding venue will continue to be housed inside and ideas include expanding the current use to offer event hosting, commercial business space and modern conference facilities.

It’s very early days but we’re beginning to look into what can be done and initial proposals were passed by our Policy, Resources & Growth Committee on 23 March 2017.

Download the committee report with the proposals (PDF)

This famous building in our city centre is a familiar sight, but we wanted to find out how many people actually know what goes on inside. We went into the city to ask residents and visitors what they think of Brighton Town Hall and we spoke to council leader Warren Morgan about the plans for the building. Watch our video to find out more.