URGENT work is to be carried out on Clydebank Town Hall to ensure it’s wind and water tight.

Councillors backed a plan for £250,000 of work to the roof and stonework this week.

But they stopped short of approving a wider £1.4million plan to transform the interior of the hall less than a decade after it was previously refurbished.

A report to West Dunbartonshire Council’s cultural committee recommended significant changes, such as moving the main entrance to Dumbarton Road, from Hall Street, scrapping the cafe in favour of a tea trolley, and putting a permanent bar within the main hall.

Last year the council massively hiked fees to use the town hall as it was running a loss of £300,000 annually. This year they are projecting a £23k underspend.

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The report warns extensive work is needed for the roof, downpipes and stonework at a cost of £252,000.

Malcolm Bennie, service lead for communications, culture and communities, told the committee: “This work is absolutely vital and needs to happen as soon as possible, if not immediately to allow the town hall to function successfully, even in its current model.”

There were three options presented to councillors. Options one and two both would cost £1.4m and transform the building, but only one would keep the Hall Street entrance.

Bailie Denis Agnew, chairman of the cultural committee, said the town hall has needed investment for decades.

He said he had a number of issues with the report that could be instead dealt with in private working groups instead of the public meeting.

Bailie Agnew told them: “There’s got to be something done about the town hall.”

Councillor Karen Conaghan said while she was less familiar with the building, not being from Clydebank, “get it wind and water tight - that’s something we have to move on with at a pace”.

Councillors approved the plan for the roof and stonework, but the rest of the refurbishment would go to a town hall working group before another report is prepared.

Built in 1902, the town hall has been repeatedly changed.

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It originally included a library, court room and police station. The grand hall was added in 1935 and the building was one of the few in Clydebank to survive the Blitz in 1942.

A museum was added in 1980 and then a £3.65m refurbishment of the town hall was finished in 2013 after 18 months of work.

The council’s report found the museum space, the sewing machine collection in the cafe and large model boats on display created “incoherent” spaces.

Officers noted there was no display on the Clydebank Blitz and the “Room of Remembrance” had had two locations in the hall in just the past decade.

They also criticised moving the entrance to Hall Street, the placement of the reception desk, security for the entrance for councillors, and the cafe space.

Instead, council bosses want to create an open-plan exhibition gallery to include the current gallery spaces and the coffee shop.

The cafe, which was said to be doing poorly, would be replaced with a mobile unit that could move to different parts of the building depending on events taking place.

The model ships, sewing machines and other heritage displays would move to a new dedicated museum space in the basement of Clydebank Library.

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The door on Dumbarton Road would be the new day-to-day entrance, with Hall Street used for events in the lesser or main halls, such as wedding receptions.

There would also be a permanent bar installed in the main hall in two of the existing former prison cells.

The cultural capital fund of £4m is also being planned to fund £500,000 for the library’s basement museum, £500,000 to make use of the former Bruce Street Baths, and £70,000 for the Back Door Gallery in Dalmuir.