WORK has begun to remove the entire roof at Bradford’s historic St George’s Hall as the next step in its £8.5 million refurbishment.

Contractors have started removing the tiles and will check each one to see if it needs replacing.

The entire roof will be removed under a temporary canopy which is required to allow the major repairs at the Grade II listed building.

Christophe Hamard, Bradford Council’s senior project manager for the refurbishment, said that they had to comply with Historic England and the Conservation Team’s requirements as well as the listed status of the building and therefore had to reuse as much of the original materials as possible.

Only damaged tiles will be replaced.

The removal of the roof will also enable the contractors to further assess areas that otherwise would not be accessible and identify other works that may need to be carried out.

Mr Hamard said: “We expect the removal of the roof to take approximately six weeks and everything seems to be on track so far.”

Henry Boot Construction Ltd, the main contractor, has appointed Stone Edge Ltd, a specialist stonemason firm, who worked on the recently revamped Piece Hall in Halifax, to complete all external works to the building, including the repairs to the walls and roof.

As well as the external work to repair the fabric of the 1850s building, the work involves improving both sightlines and legroom in the main auditorium, as well as creating a new adjustable stage which will allow a much wider range of shows to be held at the venue.

Work is expected to be finished towards the end of next year, with Bradford Theatres stating they hope to stage shows in the autumn even if some external work is still ongoing.

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Councillor Sarah Ferriby, the Council’s executive member for environment, sport and culture, said: “I’m pleased that the refurbishment work on St George’s Hall is currently on track. I can’t wait to see this wonderful heritage building restored to its former glory.”

The theatre has been closed since the end of March last year in readiness for the works to begin, and while there were some delays to the work starting, the scope of the project has been extended since then.

A £1.5m Heritage Lottery grant has contributed to the external repair work.