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Vanity Projects of Politicians


The Civic Hall has its own Wikipedia page, although it might need to be updated.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverhampton_Civic_Hall

On 1 March 2019 it was announced that the Civic Hall will reopen in the autumn of 2021, five years later than originally planned. The anticipated cost had increased to £38.1m, nearly four times the original budget.
https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/wolverhampton/2019/03/01/exclusive-wolverhampton-civic-halls-reopening-delayed-to-2021/

Boris Johnson has his HS2 and might have a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland. Wolverhampton has its very own Civic Hall refurbishment.

What will be the final cost ?

Who knows !

On 18 June 2020, it was announced that the cost would be further increased, although the Express and Star did not put forward a new figure.

On  29 June 2020 it was announced that additional costs would take the price tag to in excess of £43m and that the refurbishment was unlikely to finish on schedule by autumn 2021.

On 18 October 2019, it was reported that the leader of the Council said: "This is an ideal way for the Civic Halls project to ‘wash its face’ after all that has gone before. And it’s also a way of making an excellent return to help the venue pay for itself."

Is it still expected to "wash its face" ? 

On 24 March 2020, it was reported that the Council is looking for £20m, in return for a 40 year lease. Basic maths tells us that that the taxpayer could be £23m out of pocket, although there might be more to the potential lease deal than has been reported.
https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/attractions/2020/03/24/search-begins-for-wolverhampton-civic-halls-operator/

Unfortunately there is a history of projects going over budget.

It might be interesting to know of other ongoing projects (other than the Civic Hall) for Wolverhampton, what amounts of public money have been spent on each to date (and how much has yet to be spent) and what are the projected returns ?

The sad thing about all of this is there is now less money available for those who really need it.


Update 30 September 2022:
The Civic Hall is still not open for business and the cost figure has increased to an incredible £48m

The leader of Wolverhampton has said that the project will not cost Wolverhampton council tax payers a penny as it will be covered by income from the operator. Presumably, if the cost had been held at the original £10m then the taxpayers would be making a substantial profit from the project .... so it is a little disingenuous for the leader of the Council to say that it will not cost the taxpayers a penny 
Location: Wolverhampton, UK

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