Kendal's historic County Hall to be permanently closed and sold

A council has voted to fully close and dispose of one of its historic public buildings.

The County Hall in Kendal stopped being used in September 2024 due to it being ‘obsolete’, and in need of at least £7m of works.

Westmorland and Furness Council moved its services, which included registrations and ceremonies, democratic services, customer services and public meetings, to other council buildings.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service reported last week that the council was set to consider whether or not to ‘dispose of’ the building, meaning it could be sold off.

At the council’s cabinet meeting on Tuesday, April 21, members declared the County Hall surplus to requirements and opted to fully close down and dispose of it, spelling the end of 87 years of its use as a council building.

Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Jarvis, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, took members through the proposals.

He said how the archive services had been moved from the hall and were being delivered by neighbouring Cumberland County Council.

Cllr Jarvis added: “As a result of the departure of archive services, County Hall will be empty and all service delivery from that building will have ceased.

“The report cabinet received back in June 2024 highlighted the many issues with County Hall, including health and safety risks, inadequate access in relation to the Equality Act, including the lack of a lift, environmental inadequacies and the obsolescence of the actual infrastructure, building management system and boiler.”

He said that the issues were exacerbated by the building being listed.

Cllr Jarvis added: “To quote from the report, all indicators point to a building that is physically, functionally, environmentally and economically obsolete.

“To be clear: County Hall might be a shining example of 1930s civic architecture, but it is terribly inadequate for a modern organisation, nearly a century later.”

He moved to fully close and dispose of the building, meaning it will either be sold at market value and/or be subject to a community asset transfer, meaning it could be transferred to a community organisation.

The proposals also meant that the council will keep hold of the rear car park.

Cllr Janet Battye seconded the motion, adding how, before its closure, she had tried to organise a meeting in an upstairs room of County Hall, but that a member of the the working group ‘could not access that room because he was in a wheelchair’.

She added: “I became convinced very quickly that this building was not fit for purpose, beautiful though it may be.

“I think it is now sensible timing to move to permanently close and dispose of this building.”

The motion was unanimously approved.

The County Hall was built from 1937 to 1939 as the base of the then-Westmorland County Council, before going on to be used by Cumbria County Council.