Derry's third town hall 1825-1890 - Our Space 95
Derry’s third town hall was in fact an almost complete conversion of the previous 1692 Market House. In 1825, at a cost of £5,500, very major reconstruction created a large, solid two-story building, with its entrance facing up Bishop Street. It was called The Corporation Hall.
“The Dublin Builder” magazine was not impressed and commented: “a regret must also be expressed that the vista should be impeded by the ugly Town-hall that stands mid-way in ‘The Diamond’ - a building we shall be glad to see soon replaced by a better”.
The building stood until 1903. But it had become obsolete by the 1880s and in 1887 the Corporation started to build new premises - the Guildhall we all now know - outside the Walls beside the new Harbour Commissioners' office on land reclaimed from the river.
After the Corporation moved to its new Guildhall, the old Corporation Hall in The Diamond served for some years as Art College.
In 1903 it was badly burned by a fire that spread from Austin's Department Store. It was repaired, but was demolished in 1910 and replaced by formal gardens.
Eventually in 1927 the War Memorial was erected after the desolation of World War 1 when 756 local people were killed, out of the 4,000 men and women who had volunteered for service.
It’s almost inconceivable now to think of Derry’s Diamond not being an open space, with access around the War Memorial and benches for the public to sit on.
[“City of Derry: An Historical Gazetteer to the Buildings of Londonderry” by Daniel Calley: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society: 2013].