EMERGENCY repairs can now go ahead to save East London’s historic Grade II-listed Limehouse Town Hall from crumbling away. The dilapidated 19th century municipal headquarters in the Commercial Road is getting a cash hand-out from developers after being in disrepair for decades

By Mike Brooke

EMERGENCY repairs can now go ahead to save East London's historic Grade II-listed Limehouse Town Hall from crumbling away.

The dilapidated 19th century municipal headquarters in the Commercial Road in London's dockland is getting a cash hand-out from developers after being in disrepair for decades.

The former Limehouse municipal headquarters, opened in 1879, is 'home' today to four arts groups.

But it is in dire need of repair. The roof needs fixing, so do the windows and drainpipes to stop water leaking in and causing further damage.

A charity formed to manage the building in the Commercial Road has been awarded �28,500 by East London's Island Development Community Fund with 'planning gain' money received by Tower Hamlets council from developers. English Heritage has also dipped in.

The repair fund now stands at �125,000, which means the work can start immediately and be completed by the autumn.

The two-storey Victorian meeting house was taken over when the new Metropolitan Borough of Stepney was created in 1900 and council meetings were switched to St George's Town Hall in Shadwell-also now obsolete.