New Guildhall | |
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Information | |
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Location | Conti |
Coordinates | 49.187553°N 2.111349°W |
Status | Complete |
Constructed | 2011-2016 |
Use | Government |
Floor area | 108,557 square metres |
Cost | ƒ3.74 million |
Developer | Private |
Owner | Bailiwick of Conti |
Management | Private |
The New Guildhall is a complex of municipal government buildings occupying the site of Conti's old Guildhall, the former headquarters of the city's merchant guilds. The States of Conti purchased the vacant building in 2010. A ƒ3 million redevelopment scheme for the site received approval a year later (the final cost rose to ƒ3.74 million to accommodate the expansion of the bureaucratic state in the period to 2016). Without a permanent meeting place, the States were an itinerant assembly prior to the opening of the complex. Deputies would convene at various venues across Conti as need arose. As the seat of government and the nerve centre of Conti's administrative machinery of state, the New Guildhall houses the bailiwick's principal governmental institutions and public bodies: the States of Conti, the Council of Ten, the State Archives and the Office of Despatches. The complex consists of a series of independent buildings arrayed around a central square, covering a total land area of 1.7 hectare. The four largest buildings are located on the west and north sides of the common-use area whilst on the south side, the old Guildhall's ceremonial entrance gate and the Flemish-bond brick building housing the seal of Conti are the only pre-existing structures to have survived the redevelopment of the site. A bronze statue of Libertas sits atop the column erected at the north-western corner of the square. The sculpture, paid for by funds raised from public subscription, was unveiled by the bailiff on 28 February 2019 to mark the tenth anniversary of the demise of the guild-based oligarchy.