Central Offices, Barnsley

{{short description|County building in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England}}

{{Infobox building

| name = Central Offices, Barnsley

| native_name =

| image = Disused Council Offices Kendray Street (geograph 1649029).jpg

| caption = Central Offices

| map_type = South Yorkshire

| address = Kendray Street, Barnsley

| location_city =

| location_country = United Kingdom

| map_dot_label = Central Offices

| coordinates = {{coord|53.5530|-1.4787|display=inline,title}}

| completion_date = 1960s

| demolition_date = 2015

| former_names =

| architect =

| architectural_style =Brutalist style

}}

Central Offices was a municipal facility at Kendray Street in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England. As County Hall, it was the headquarters of South Yorkshire County Council.

History

The building, which was designed in the brutalist style, was built with a reinforced concrete frame for Norwich Union on a vacant site just south of the old cattle market in the 1960s.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/public-service-management-end-of-the-metropolitan-line-county-councils-face-an-uncertain-future-1540037.html|title=End of the metropolitan line: County councils face an uncertain future|work=The Independent|date=13 August 1992|accessdate=6 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/434533/406417/10/101320|title=Ordnance Survey Map|year=1966|accessdate=8 October 2020}} The design for the seven-storey building involved continuous bands of glazing with exposed concrete beams above and below: it was leased by South Yorkshire County Council from its formation in 1974 and was subsequently known as County Hall.{{London Gazette|issue=48227|page=8836|date=20 June 1980|accessdate=14 November 2020}}

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the newly-opened county hall before departing on foot to view Barnsley Indoor Markets located just south of the county hall on 30 July 1975.{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/cronweb/docs/050116|title=Flashback to Royal Visit on 30 July 1975|publisher=Barnsley Independent|date=5 January 2016|page=3|accessdate=14 November 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/cronweb/docs/220915|title=The Queen's visit to Barnsley Market|publisher=Barnsley Independent|date=22 September 2015|page=3|accessdate=14 November 2020}} During the Cold War era, South Yorkshire County Council declared itself "a nuclear-free zone",{{cite web|url=https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/libraries-archives/access-archives-local-studies-library/research-guides/cold-war|title=Cold War research guide|publisher=Sheffield City Council|accessdate=8 October 2020}} although in practice any emergency planning for a nuclear attack would have been linked to the county hall.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oikyAwAAQBAJ&q=County+Hall%2C+Kendray+Street%2C+Barnsley&pg=PA155|page=155|title=Protection from the Cold: Cold War Protection in Preparedness for Nuclear War|first1= Simon |last1=Craine|first2= Noel |last2=Ryan|publisher=Wildtrack Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1904098195}}

Following the abolition of South Yorkshire County Council in 1986, the building was renamed Central Offices and used by the housing, planning and public services departments of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. After being vacated by the Barnsley Council in 2007,{{cite web|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/taxpayers-battered-as-projects-stall-in-downturn-1-3612370|title=Taxpayers battered as projects stall in downturn|date=25 July 2011|publisher=Yorkshire Post|accessdate=6 October 2019|archive-date=6 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006230715/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/latest-news/taxpayers-battered-as-projects-stall-in-downturn-1-3612370|url-status=dead}} the windows were lit up in various colours as a canvas for a large-scale public artwork in 2009.{{cite web|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/strata-project-lights-up-barnsley-office-block/5212338.article|title=Strata project lights up Barnsley office block|publisher=Architects Journal|date=23 December 2009|accessdate=6 October 2019}}

As part of a regeneration strategy to enhance the town centre,{{cite web|url=https://barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk/Data/Cabinet/201406041000/Agenda/Cabinet%202014%2006%2004%20Itemt10.pdf|page=8|title=Cabinet Response to the Scrutiny Report: Is the Council's approach to regenerating Barnsley Town Centre working?|publisher=Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council|date=1 October 2014|accessdate=6 October 2019}} the building was demolished in November 2015{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-34830355|title=Barnsley Council office demolition begins|date=16 November 2015|publisher=BBC|accessdate=6 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-43PvvRz0Q|title=Barnsley Central Offices Demolition|date= 9 December 2016|publisher=Deadline Digital|accessdate=8 October 2020}} to make way for a temporary home for Barnsley Indoor Markets.{{cite web|url=https://www.deboer.com/en-uk/about-us/news-archive/news-1/building-a-better-barnsley|title=Building a better Barnsley|date=15 January 2017|publisher=Losberger De Boer|accessdate=6 October 2019}} Following the opening of the new permanent market hall in the Glass Works in November 2018,{{cite web|url=https://www.insidermedia.com/news/yorkshire/new-barnsley-markets-to-open|title=New Barnsley Markets to Open|date=30 October 2018|publisher=Insider Media|accessdate=14 November 2020}} Barnsley Council confirmed that the temporary market hall would in turn be dismantled to allow for the opening of a new public square on the old Central Offices site in spring 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.barnsleychronicle.com/article/first-glimpse-of-new-barnsley-revealed|title=First glimpse of new Barnsley revealed|date=1 August 2014|publisher=Barnsley Chronicle|accessdate=6 October 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/six-months-disruption-ahead-main-18842437|title=Six months of disruption ahead as main route in Barnsley centre is closed|date=28 August 2020|publisher=Yorkshire Live|accessdate=14 November 2020}}

Central Offices, Barnsley

History

References

Further reading