Harrow Civic Centre

Harrow Civic Centre is a municipal building in Station Road, Harrow, London. It is the headquarters of Harrow London Borough Council.

Harrow Civic Centre
Harrow Civic Centre
Location	Station Road, Harrow HA1 2XY
Coordinates	51°35′21″N 0°20′03″W / 51.5892°N 0.3343°W / 51.5892; -0.3343
Built	1973; 50 years ago (1973)
Architect	Eric G. Broughton
Shown in Harrow

History

 

The old council house at 90 High Street

The local board of health for Harrow on the Hill was initially based at 49 High Street and then, from 1888, at 90 High Street.^[1][2] Following a significant increase in population, largely associated with the growing importance of the area as a residential suburb of London, the area became an urban district in 1894.^[3] After the district was enlarged by the inclusion of the former Wealdstone urban district in 1934, the new council established itself at the old 19th century Wealdstone council offices in Peel Road in Wealdstone.^[4][5]

Following an increase in its responsibilities, having become a municipal borough in 1954 and a London borough in 1965, the council sought larger premises and moved to a private residence known as Harrow Weald Lodge.^[6][7][8] After this arrangement became inadequate for their needs, civic leaders decided to procure a purpose-built civic centre: the site selected in Station Road had previously been occupied by a primary school and a builder's yard.^[9]

Construction on the new building, which was undertaken by F.G. Minter, began on 2 July 1970.^[10] The new building was designed by Eric G. Broughton and was officially opened by the mayor, Alderman Henry Gange, on 6 May 1973.^[11] The design involved a six-storey square concrete-framed structure with 30 bays on each side; the bays contained a window on each floor flanked by concrete slabs; there was a landscaped courtyard in the centre of the building.^[11] The council chamber was contained in an entirely separate structure built to the north east of the main building; it was connected to the main building by a bridge structure containing a large glass decorative screen made by Whitefriars Glass.^[11]

The "Kodak Mural", a composite creation of nearly 1,000 tiles bearing Harrow-related photographs, which was designed by Pentagram and made by Kenneth Clark Ceramics, was installed on the first floor landing in 1974.^[12]

In April 2004, Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, visited the civic centre as part of the celebrations in respect of the 50th anniversary of the borough's royal charter.^[13]

In October 2014, as part of its regeneration strategy, the council announced proposals to move its headquarters to a more modern facility in Wealdstone and to release the civic centre site for residential use.^[14] However, in March 2019, it indicated that there would be delays^[15] and, in July 2019, the council decided to find a regeneration partner to help to expedite the development.^[16] In September 2020, the council indicated that it had identified that partner although the name of the partner was not revealed.^[17]

References

1. "Harrow Heritage Trail". Harrow Heritage Trust. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
2. Historic England. "Old Council House (1286082)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
3. "Harrow on the Hill UD". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
4. "Council Minutes" (PDF). Harrow Council. 3 July 1934. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
5. The Sanitary Record and Journal of Sanitary and Municipal Engineering. Vol. 31. Sanitary Publishing Company. 1898. p. 654.
6. Bolton, Diane K; King, H P F; Wyld, Gillian; Yaxley, D C (1971). "'Harrow, including Pinner : The growth of the hamlets', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4, Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood With Southall, Hillingdon With Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow With Pinner, ed. T F T Baker, J S Cockburn and R B Pugh". London: British History Online. pp. 172–198. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
7. "No. 44054". The London Gazette. 15 July 1966. p. 7984.
8. Historic England. "Harrow Weald Lodge (1079655)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
9. "Ordnance Survey Map". 1961. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
10. "The Building of Harrow Civic Centre". London Film Archives. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
11. "London's Town Halls". Historic England. p. 109. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
12. "Westminster Tiles". Retrieved 4 May 2020.
13. "Thousands greet the Queen on golden jubilee visit". Harrow Times. 1 April 2004. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
14. "Regeneration Strategy: 2014-2026" (PDF). London Borough of Harrow. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
15. "New Harrow Civic Centre won't be built by 2020". Harrow Times. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
16. "Harrow Council to appoint private regeneration partner after call-in". Harrow Times. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
17. "Harrow Council finalising choice of regeneration partner". This is Local London. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2020.