Town Hall (Alexander Memorial Hall), 24 Main Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 0EU

Town Hall (Alexander Memorial Hall), 24 Main Street, Limavady

A two-storey ashlar sandstone-faced neoclassical building constructed between 1863 and 1865 to designs by architects Turner and Williamson. The builder was Samuel Mercer, contracted for £1,800, rising to £2,000. The building later became known as the Alexander Memorial Hall after subsequent modifications.

The Main Street elevation is of streetscape importance and comprises three bays wide with a pedimented front. The facade features an asymmetrically placed entrance door. The ground floor contains three round-headed openings (two windows and one door), with the centre portion breaking forward slightly. This central feature has short flanking pilasters with large scrolled corbels above supporting a semi-circular projecting balcony with open balustrading, creating an imposing ground floor focal point.

The ground floor masonry rises from a plain grey granite plinth with smooth sandstone ashlar to a horizontal moulded string cum cill course. Above this, the ashlar becomes rusticated with deep cut horizontal joints following the voussoirs of the arched openings. A frieze band of vertical fluting interspersed with circular motifs separates the ground and first floors, with horizontal mouldings at top and bottom. The first-floor ashlar is smooth with a moulded string course at cill level. Three tall windows express the main hall behind, decorated with moulding architraves and thin cornices; the centre window bears two small scrolls. Below the pediment is a frieze of motifs with moulded panels. The pediment itself is crisply defined with neat cornice, and a moulded oculus in the tympanum formerly contained louvres to ventilate the roof space. A canted clock with two faces, likely added later, sits above the central window.

The sandstone facade returns approximately one metre on each side, treated similarly to the front elevation and finished with a segmental flourish at the top. The building is essentially facade architecture; the remainder is finished in smooth unpainted cement rendering with doors inserted at various points. The southern side features an arcade of three semi-circular headed windows lighting the main hall. The southern side also displays an arcade of three semi-circular headed windows. A pitched slated roof covers the main hall area, with a flat roof beyond covering the three-storey rear portion.

The building's depth greatly exceeds its width to Main Street. The main facade maintains the building line and is essential to the integrity of the street frontage. Though only two storeys high to Main Street, the lofty pedimented front reaches the height of adjoining three-storey buildings.

A rear (north) addition was built in the 1960s. The interior is plain and much altered. Structural problems identified in the roof and first floor necessitated their replacement. Listed Building Consent for demolition was granted in early 1998. The building was delisted on 22 July 1998.

At the rear, renovation work has been carried out with modern windows inserted. The building is currently used for storage.