St. George’s historic belle, Town Hall, will soon be restored with a new roof. Hopefully she will be dressed in time for the illustrious Peppercorn Ceremony later this month.

When Hurricane Fabian travelled through St. George’s in 2003, nature’s rage was focused on St. George’s historical Town Hall.

Corporation Secretary, Nancy Hooper, shared that the lower level of the Town Hall was restored and renovated, a major job which was completed in October, 2004.

Its configuration was changed, and the Mayor’s Parlour was relocated as well as all plumbing, wiring and flooring replaced. This is an excellent example of the expertise of the Corporation’s small but dedicated work force.

Ms Hooper said: “The replacement of the Town Hall roof is the last project in the long list of hurricane damage repair that have been taking place since September, 2003.

“Of the Corporation’s 21 buildings, 12 were damaged, the Town Hall extensively.”

Hurricane Fabian damaged the roof severely and the section that was exposed was temporarily fixed immediately. However, the team of assessors who inspected all of the buildings, determined that ultimately the roof must be replaced.

This work has been “a work in progress”. Town Hall looks like an injured patient with wooden crutches as she awaits restoration by the end of April.

Ms Hooper said: “The Corporation has to work with various constraints, visitor constraints, visitor season, weather and other projects.

“In these initial stages of removing the old roof, some unforeseen issues have arisen. It appears that there was a major storm in the early 1950s which damaged the roof, and it was repaired piece meal. So we will correctly repair all of these and any other inconsistencies along the way.”

They must adhere to all codes which apply to historic buildings so the end result does not change the vision of Town Hall that was constructed in the early 1800s. This comes under the scrutiny of Shannon Outerbridge who is known for working miracles in St. George’s.

The Corporation is also grateful to their dedicated architect, Terry Bowers, who renders appropriate advice on St. George’s World Heritage Status.

Ms Hooper concluded: “We apologise to the pubic for the inconvenience caused in and around the Square during this time and thank everyone for their cooperation.”