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.jpg) LINEN HALL LIBRARY’S ICONIC FRONT DOOR GETS A MAKEOVER
The Linen Hall Library’s iconic front entrance on Donegall Square North has undergone a substantial restorative makeover. The work, costing tens of thousands of pounds, included specialist stone work, repainting, and a general tidying up.
The entrance has been redecorated intermittently since it was originally built in 1860 as the imposing frontage to a linen warehouse. But time, funds and modern pollution have taken their toll and substantial works were needed to bring it back to its former glory.
Patricia Saunders, Linen Hall’s Head of Member, Customer and Support Services, says: “The Donegall Square entrance of the Linen Hall Library is one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks and it deserves to look as presentable as possible. Through generous funding we have been able to gather enough money to finally carry out some much-needed work.”
The following organisations’ generous donations have made the restoration possible: Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, Esme Mitchell Foundation, Northern Ireland Heritage Agency, and Ulster Garden Villages Ltd.
Architects Hall Black Douglas of Belfast championed the work which included structural repairs, the removal of over 100 years of paint deposits, re-coating with a special breathable mineral paint, and general redecoration and repairs to the porch and stairwell. Also working on the job were contractors Reynolds & Bennett Ltd and stone specialists J&J Mowbray Ltd.
The Linen Hall Library moved into the Donegall Square premises in 1892 from its previous home in the White Linen Hall, on which site Belfast City Hall now stands. The iconic entrance is decorated with festoons of linen, owing to its original purpose, with sandstone dressings to the windows and doors. Inside, the massive granite steps take visitors up to the main reception area of the Library.
The door was closed to the public over the summer, and is now open.
Notes to editors:
The Linen Hall Library is open free to the public. Opening hours are:
Monday – Friday 9.30 – 5.30pm, Saturday from 9.30 – 4.00pm.
For more information about these events or the Linen Hall Library please contact
Rachel Wetherall, Marketing and PR Officer, at the Linen Hall Library on 028 9032 1707
or on email at r.wetherall@linenhall.com.
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