The kindest thing Cestrians have had to say about this recently-erected third attempt- courtesy of the Scottish Widows insurance company and designed by one Leslie Jones- is that "At least it's better than the last effort".
One wonders. It already looks dated, rather shabby and as grossly inappropriate to its surroundings as its predecessor. The impertinent manner in which its frontage has been thrown forward over the pavement has destroyed the building line and thus the harmony of the Town Hall Square itself.
In the face of such mediocre modern architecture, who can blame our older citzens for still speaking fondly of the needlessly destroyed facade of the Victorian hall?

Today, Town Hall Square is cluttered up with pointless concrete planters, a traffic barrier and attendant's hut, An tatty collection of Roman stumps and the sculpture by Stephen Broadbent seen in the foreground. To compete the mess, a pointless row of flagpoles sprouted in front of the Forum and Town Hall. To complete the picture, and in the face of great local opposition, a branch of MacDonald's has now opened in the premises on the extreme right.
Our next picture, however, shows the square as it appeared around the year 1910.

It seems indicative of the quality of those currently entrusted with the guardianship of Chester's fine buildings that, referring to the Forum at a public lecture in Summer 2000, the city council's former 'Conservation Officer', Peter de Figueiredo (by then moved on to a senior position with English Heritage, but less-than-fondly remembered locally for such splendours as the roof and perspex window needlessly added to the medieval Thimbleby's Tower, the bollards that now disfigure much of the city centre and, of course, those flagpoles here in Town Hall Square)- declared that "Chester may come to regret the loss of this bold building"...
About as much as Chester will miss him and his fiddling 'improvements', we suspect.

In July 2000, we had the first confirmation of further great changes hereabouts. The city council had first announced in April 1998 a plan to "Improve the layout and appearance of Town Hall Square and its surroundings" and a series of public workshops were held to gain some idea of what people would like to happen in the area. Go here to learn more...

Left: When the Victorian market hall was demolished, this pathetic remnant was suffered to survive- tucked between the Dublin Packet pub and the horrible Scottish Widows Forum frontage- tauntingly reminding us of former splendours. Whether it will also survive ING's forthcoming Northgate Redelopment scheme is anybody's guess.

In March 2001, the Independent newspaper produced a free supplement entitled "Best of Chester: the Top 50 Places to go in Chester", penned by local girl Lucy Gilmore.
The work succeeded in producing a minor stink within the city's tourism and publicity departments as a result of its reference to the market as "Originally atmospheric, the entrance is now through a tacky shopping centre".
Correspondents to the local press seemed to agree with Ms Gilmore; "Yes, the Forum is very tacky!", "I can't think of a better description of it", etc- and this despite the author's rather surreal claim that visitors to the Market Hall would be entertained by "Strapping stallholders singing Jerusalem as you sample ripe Stilton Vintage..."

Visit Chester Market's excellent website and see what's there for yourself- history, a directory of traders and news of the forthcoming redevelopment: http://www.chestermarket.com/