Extensive works to restore and upgrade Ripley's historic Hotel de Ville or Town Hall are almost completed, thanks to a £99,500 grant offer from the Heritage Lottery Fund: other funding has been received from the Ripley Star Club, the Ripley Castle Estate, Entrust, Harrogate Borough Council, and Awards For All.
The interior of the grade II listed building, constructed in fine Gothic style in 1854, has been reorganised to create enhanced facilities for meetings, sports and community groups, and a lift enables access to the meeting room, bar, and pool, billiards and snooker facilities available on the first floor. A stair climber allows disabled access to the building and can also be used by the adjoining Post Office. A new green room enables more use to be made of the existing stage in the main hall, and air conditioning creates a much more comfortable environment for the regular and hugely popular Ripley Blues gigs. Brand new toilet facilities (including disabled) are also in place.
Ripley C of E Primary School, which uses the main hall as a dining area, has benefited from a new purpose built kitchen, and a secure new bar area created at ground floor level services events in the main hall. An audio and visual heritage display enables all visitors to learn about the history of the building and there are plans for guided tours in the near future.
The ugly metal fire escape staircase and gantries that intruded into the main hall have been removed, and new, more effective fire escape routes created. The flat roof above the bar, which had reached the end of its natural life, has been replaced, and the fine stained glass windows that are a prominent feature of the west and east elevations have been made safe and fully restored.
Andy Herrington, secretary of the Ripley Star Club, said 'we
are extremely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund and to the Ripley Castle
Estate for their support. The Hotel de Ville used to be a centre for not just
Ripley, but the whole community of the district. Sadly the facilities have looked
increasingly tired in recent years. This work is not simply cosmetic: it has
enabled far more groups from all walks of life to make full use of one of the
best community facilities for miles around. The work that has been carried out
to the structure of the building has safeguarded this very prominent feature
in Ripley's historic landscape and provided a significant heritage gain.'