A restoration of Middlesbrough’s 19th-century old town hall is hoped to revitalise a part of the town.

Leading specialists are helping with plans to restore the historic old town hall, one of the town’s key heritage assets built in 1846, following a National Lottery Heritage Fund award of nearly £230,000.

The design team from Group Ginger is developing plans to renovate the building into spaces for digital startup companies, demolish a 1970s extension and restore the clock tower.

A Middlesbrough Council report reveals a planning application for the project has been submitted to a planning consultancy, with “praise given for the concept and visuals”.

It says a second-stage bid was put in to the National Lottery in August following “a vast array” of activities involving more than 300 people.

The council says the bid has a raft of letters of support from the Tees Valley Combined Authority, local groups, education and public health sectors.

“Determination is anticipated from the Lottery in December 2024,” says the report.

“The restoration includes a contemporary extension to frame the iconic clock tower, along with a wholesale restoration of the original building fabric.

If funding is secured, work will commence in early 2025 and progress throughout the year.

“The building will provide novel new space for new small businesses in Middlesbrough and will become the focal point for the redevelopment of the wider St Hilda’s area.”

At the latest full council meeting on Wednesday night (September 11) Councillor David Branson, who represents Coulby Newham, said: “I’m very pleased that we are actually going to do some work on the town hall. It’s been an eyesore for a very long time.

“It would be marvellous to see this building coming back into use. It’s something we can be proud of.

“I’d just like to know a few more details about what the nature of the extension is going to be to frame the clock tower, and also some idea of timescale in which the building will be completed.”

Cllr Theo Furness, executive member for regeneration, said: “The old town hall stands alone in that area as one of the only buildings that is still standing. We’ve seen many different developments go on, and fail, to be honest.

“We’re hoping this will be the focal point for the redevelopment, restarting, of over the border, St Hilda’s. It’s going to be framing the old clock tower in a contemporary way.

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“It’s going to be fit for future uses, not just a rigid building. It’s going to have a space for small businesses and will be a focal point for the future development of that area.

“We do have the Boho building which is complete now and stands quite large, looming over it. That area has so much potential.

“And the MDC (Middlesbrough Development Corporation), once we know what the masterplan is, we can work with them to redevelop that area and bring it back to life. It would have been many many years ago when that would have been the centre of the town.”