| Rutherglen Town Hall | |
| Coordinates: | 55.8286°N -4.2144°W |
| Location: | 139-143 Main Street Rutherglen G73 2JJ |
| Built: | 1862 |
| Architect: | Charles Wilson |
| Architecture: | Scottish baronial style |
| Designation1: | Category A Listed Building |
| Designation1 Date: | 4 March 1971 |
| Designation1 Number: | LB33564 |
Rutherglen Town Hall is a municipal facility on the north side of Main Street in Rutherglen, Scotland. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Rutherglen Burgh Council, is a Category A listed building.
The current building was commissioned to replace an earlier town hall, known latterly as "the old jail", which had been completed in 1766.[1] After significant population expansion associated with the growth in the mining industry, civic leaders decided to procure a new town hall although the two structures coexisted almost alongside each other until 1900.[1]
The foundation stone for the new building was laid by with full masonic honours by Sir Archibald Alison on 16 July 1861.[1] It was designed by Charles Wilson in the Scottish baronial style and completed in 1862. The design involved an asymmetrical frontage of five bays facing Main Street; the left hand section of four bays featured four round-headed windows on the ground floor and a large oriel window on the first floor with a gable above; the right hand bay featured a doorway with a gable head and a prominent four-sided asymmetric clock tower with corner bartizans. On either side of the oriel window carved panels were erected, one with "circa David I 1126" and the other with "circa William I 1189", as reminders of the dates when ancient privileges were awarded to the town.[1] The building was extended to the east by an extra eight bays to the designs of Robert Dalgleish and John Thomson in 1877[2] and an iron canopy was erected outside the doorway in 1902. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chambers, a courtroom and a public hall.[1]
The town hall was the seat of government of Rutherglen Burgh Council until it was gutted during a conversion to offices in 1967,[2] and became surplus to requirements after the town was absorbed into Glasgow District under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 in May 1975.[3] It was then closed to the public in the 1980s and fell into a state of disrepair.[4] The building was refurbished and extended with the addition of a twin-level glass atrium to the rear at a cost of £12 million (supported by Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund for Scotland) in 2004.[5] [6] It continues to be used as a venue for weddings, theatrical performances and exhibitions,[7] [8] while still providing some local services such as the Licensing and Registration Office.[9]
Rutherglen's other Category A listed buildings are located very near to the town hall: a is situated immediately to the west, while (completed in 1940) is directly opposite on the other side of Main Street. There are also several Category B structures in close proximity (library, Old Parish Church, statue of Dr Gorman, tenement adjoining the town hall's east wing).[6] [10]