CHESTER’S Victorian gothic town hall is to be transformed into a cultural and civic centre at the heart of the historic city.

Cheshire West and Chester Council are to spend well over £2m on the phased project designed to breathe fresh life into the Chester’s former local government centre.

The announcement coincides with the first major step towards the regeneration of the city’s riverside area with the sale of County Hall to the University of Chester.

The £10m-plus deal will trigger the late spring movement of hundreds of local government workers across the road to the new HQ building as County Hall becomes the centre of the University’s Faculties of Education and Children’s Services and Health & Social Care.

Professor Tim Wheeler, the University of Chester’s Vice-Chancellor, said: “The University is at the heart of the community.

“The benefits of academic scholarship are evident locally in everything from our socially motivated research to the fact that around 50% of nurses employed at hospitals across the region and a high proportion of teachers employed in local schools were educated at the institution.”

The council is also expected to soon announce its choice of consultants to undertake the study into the feasibility of a £30m state of the art theatre and conference centre on the near by Little Roodee.