Making a grand entrance…

The new space called The Arches reception has been created by glazing the building’s archways and boasts a reception area, improved public facilities, and six meeting rooms. It also has wi-fi and a café for both staff and the public that will open later in the year.

The new lounge on Ceremonial Way will give the public an easy to find front door to the Civic Centre. It’s opening marks the completion of an important phase of the refurbishment of the entire Civic Centre - a Grade II* Listed building opened by the King of Norway in 1968.

The overall project has already seen Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service move into a large part of the building. The courts are now sitting but will officially open in the summer.

Ten floors in the main part of the Civic Centre have also been remodelled allowing more staff to move in as efficiencies have led to the closure of satellite offices.

The overall Civic refurbishment was funded by a £45m loan which will be repaid with savings and rental income, generating an additional £32m for frontline services.

The entrance was opened by the leader of the city council, Cllr Nick Forbes.

Cllr Forbes said: “Since the Civic Centre was opened the ornamental sea horses on top of its tower have become a distinctive part of the city’s skyline. When you have been away and return to the city and see them you know you are home.

“While some councils have abandoned city centre locations for out-of-town offices, we took the decision to stay and invest in one of our biggest assets, creating a new Civic quarter. This is safeguarding and attracting new jobs, keeping the city centre vibrant and attractive while generating new income for frontline services.

“It was a bold decision but proven to be the right one.

“This marks a new chapter for the Civic Centre and is evidence of our commitment to investing in our city. It will give visitors a warm welcome to the City Council, and it’s an honour to open it.”

The lounge will also be home to the city’s registrar’s service where people can register births, deaths and marriages.

Council chief executive Pat Ritchie said: “Great care has been taken during the refurbishment of the Civic Centre. This is a much-loved building that is part of the identity of our great city.

“This modern fit for purpose entrance effectively gives the council one obvious front door for the benefit of the public and will help staff provide a better service in more attractive surroundings.

“The project has been completed on budget with minimal delay and is testimony to the project management skills of our officers and the contractor Sir Robert McAlpine.”

All the meeting rooms are named after women who have made significant contributions to the city. They are: Pat Ritchie, chief executive of Newcastle City Council; Cllr Joyce McCarty, Deputy Leader of Newcastle City Council; Cllr Anita Lower, leader of the Opposition on Newcastle City Council; Bishop of Newcastle, Christine Hardman; former chair of Your Homes Newcastle, Olivia Grant and the late Theresa Russell, who was a councillor for Scotswood and then Byker for a combined 50 years.

Cllr Forbes added: “This Sunday (March 8) is International Women’s Day which is all about recognising women’s rights.

“What better way to celebrate than by naming our new meeting rooms after six inspirational women who in their own way have made a massive contribution to life in Newcastle.”

The women who will have rooms named after them are:

Christine Hardman is the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, one of the first woman priests, archdeacons and bishops ordained in the Church of England. She graduated in Economics from Thames Polytechnic and was awarded with an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration in 2018. She recently warned that the North of England had been hit unfairly by funding cuts and called for more decisions to be made here.

Anita Lower is a councillor for Castle ward in Newcastle and Leader of the Opposition (Liberal Democrat) on Newcastle City Council. She was the first female deputy leader on the council and chairs the council’s Scrutiny Overview Committee and serves on numerous other committees including Constitutional Committee, Licensing Committee and Regulatory Committee, as well as attending Cabinet Meetings.

Olivia Grant OBE is former chair of Your Homes Newcastle. She was awarded Honorary Freedom of the City in 2016 in recognition of an inspirational advocate for Newcastle who has enriched the city by helping people to prosper. She played a leading role in persuading a major US employer to locate to the North Bank of the Tyne creating hundreds of jobs.

Pat Ritchie is the first female Chief Executive of Newcastle City Council. For the past seven years she has steered the transformation of the council and its services along with the wider economic impact on the city and the region. She played an instrumental role in the establishment of the North of Tyne Combined Authority as interim chief executive and was recently appointed - with the approval of the Prime Minister - as Chair of the Government’s Property Agency. She is a former chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency.

Joyce McCarty has served the public for 26 years as a councillor and has played a key role fostering equality and diversity and implementing the Newcastle Living Wage. She was first elected to the council in a by-election in July 1994 and became Deputy Leader of the Opposition in May 2007. She is the first woman elected to serve in a leadership position in Labour Group. Now retired, she worked as a secondary school teacher and an education adviser.

Theresa Science Russell (1917-2013) was one of Newcastle’s longest serving councillor having served the people of Scotswood and later Byker for 50 years for which she was honoured with Freedom of the City in 1998. Her husband Dr Henry Russell who died in 1998 at the age of 94 was also a councillor. She had a strong commitment to social justice and her memorable first question in the council chamber was a proposal to lower the price of school meals for low-income families.