Alloa Town Hall - May 2022
Until the late 19th century, Alloa lacked a public hall capable of accommodating a large number of people, the largest available hall being able to take a maximum of 300 people. In the 1880's a director of woolens company John Paton, Son and Co., John Thomson Paton, offered to pay for a town hall as a gift to the town. The burgh leaders agreed to accept the offer, however the site they selected at Marshill was occupied by some large private houses. Once the space was made available for the building, the project quickly got underway. Over the years most of the nearby buildings have been demolished. Only two of the original buildings there remain.
Picture from the 1887 Edition of The Alloa Illustrated Family Almanac, Directory and Register
As a tribute to the hall's sponsor, a bust of Mr Paton is displayed in the entrance hallway.
Town Hall - archive picture
The new building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the Renaissance style, built by G. & R. Cousin in ashlar stone at a cost of £18,008 and completed in 1889. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Marshill; the central section of three bays, which projected forward, featured a round headed doorway on the ground floor, mullioned windows on the first floor, mullioned windows flanked by Ionic order pilasters on the second floor and mullioned windows on the third floor with a gable above. There was a hall block behind the front block with an octagonal chimney at the north end. Internally, the front block contained the council chamber on the first floor and an art school on the upper floors, while the hall block contained an assembly hall which accommodated a public library as well as an organ designed and made by Forster and Andrews.
Town hall organ and original stage layout - archive picture
The building continued to serve as the headquarters of Alloa Burgh Council throughout the first half of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the council moved to Greenfield House in 1952. The building continued to be used as an events venue and the Liverpool rock band, the Silver Beatles, (later just 'The Beatles') performed at the town hall during a tour of Scotland as the backing group for the pop singer Johnny Gentle in May 1960.
The organ was removed from the building and destroyed in January 1970. The hall was refurbished in the late 1980's for its centenary year, including new heating, lighting and stage equipment, upgrading of the toilets and the dressing rooms.
Queen Elizabeth II met civic officials at the town hall during a visit to the town to re-open the refurbished Alloa Tower in July 1997. A major programme of refurbishment works at the town hall, including redecoration and the upgrading of the heating system, was completed in summer 2011. The building was closed for a time in 2013, when urgent roof repairs were required. The building has been Class C listed since June 1972. It remains available for weddings and functions.