140-year-old Penang Town Hall building to finally undergo restoration in December

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 20 ― The 140-year-old Penang Town Hall building that fell into disrepair early this year will finally be restored to its former glory in a massive restoration works planned for the end of the year.

Penang Island City Council (MBPP) Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said an open tender was called in August and it ended this month.

“Now the tender applications are being considered by the tender board and should be finalised by the end of this month,” he said.

He said a contractor will soon be appointed and works on the historic building will start by the end of the year.

It is hoped that restoration works on the Grade 1 historic monument will be completed just in time for the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2020 and Techfest 2020 next year.

The Town Hall building was one of the spaces identified to hold one of the programmes in Techfest 2020 in September next year.

The Town Hall building is also one of the buildings that the city council has earmarked for its space to be fully maximised once it is fully restored.

Yew said the city council hoped to fully maximise many of its market complexes and public buildings so that these buildings are not left idle and vacant.

“We have a lot of buildings and complexes that we can make full use of, such as markets that were only in use in the mornings but left empty in the afternoons, so we will try to think of how to introduce other activities in these spaces throughout the day,” he said.

He said this will make full use of the council’s facilities and at the same time spur the local economy.

The Town Hall building was occasionally used as an exhibition space over the years after its last restoration works costing about RM4.5 million back in 2004.

The building was mostly left vacant and had previously housed one of the city council’s departments.

The building was designed by Captain William Innes and was built in 1879, by military engineers of the British Army.

Related Articles MBPP sets aside RM10m for George Town Heritage Zone projects in 2020 spending plan Penang island council tables RM14m deficit budget for 2020 Penang City Council: 20 lots of land will be acquired to make way for Mount Erskine road project