[5] The council then decided to procure a separate building suitable for public gatherings, events and entertainments: the site they selected was open land to the west of Hart Lane (subsequently renamed Raby Road).

[7] It was designed by Henry Cheers in the English Gothic style, built in red brick with stone dressings and was officially opened as West Hartlepool Town Hall on 1 October 1897.

[7] The design, which followed a long cruciform layout, involved a symmetrical main frontage with a single wide bay, flanked by turrets with spires, facing onto Raby Street; it featured an arched porch which slightly projected forward and was decorated with carved spandrels and battlements.

[9] The assembly hall was used as a public venue: a pipe organ designed and manufactured by James Jepson Binns was installed in the building in 1926.

[10] Concert performers included the contralto singer, Kathleen Ferrier, who sang in Handel's Messiah in the town hall on 15 December 1948.