Historic hall forced to close and could go on market
A COMMUNITY hall that dates back to the 1930s has been forced to close due to a lack of volunteers to run the building.
The previous tenants of Morton Jubilee Hall, on Union Road, Macclesfield, were a charity who have now handed the keys back to Cheshire East Council.
If no one comes forward to take over the lease to run the building, then the council will have no option but to put it onto the market.
Morton Jubilee Hall was built in 1939 for the nearby Hovis workers as a social club and air raid shelter.
In 2004, a group of local residents took over the running of the building when Morton Hall Community Centre Ltd was set up as a registered charity and Company Limited by guarantee.
They took out a 25-year all repairing lease with the then Cheshire County Council, now Cheshire East.
Jacqui Whibberley, chair of Morton Hall, said: “The hall has been very successful and has good bookings. But unfortunately it lacks volunteers.
“So we had to take the decision to close the hall - which we did very reluctantly after a long campaign to recruit volunteers. The hall is now more than 80 years old and it has required a great deal of maintenance to keep it up to date and in good repair.
“The local residents were responsible for the tremendous improvements to the building - from the installation of a commercial kitchen, restoration of the main hall floor, loads of repairs health and safety and so on and put Wi-Fi in.
“We have done as much as we could.”
The building is still well-used by groups including fitness classes, Spanish language, coffee mornings, and music and has a main hall, stag, kitchen and meeting rooms.
Remaining funds will be transferred to other local charities.
A council spokesman confirmed the hall closed for bookings on July 31 and that it had invited ‘expressions of interest’ in the hall from other parties.