The central section was surmounted by a modillioned pediment with a round headed opening in the tympanum and a weather vane above.

[8] After the urban district council relocated to new offices at Stanhope Street in Rathstewart in 1985, much of the building became vacant and began to deteriorate.

A major programme of refurbishment works was completed in May 1990,[4] and the Athy Heritage Centre was established in the building in 1997.

[10][11][12] The ship's cabin from the schooner-rigged steamship, Quest, in which Shackleton died, was donated to the heritage centre and sent for conservation in 2015.

[13][14] Proposals to establish a museum dedicated to Ernest Shackleton in the building were submitted to Kildare County Council in January 2019.