Municipal Archives : Old Granary

Not verified.

Much of the current exterior appearance was the result of renovations made in the late 1930s. This Town Hall is located on the building that used to be the granary of the granary and the neo-Gothic clock tower of the old Town Hall is still preserved. The primitive building had its entrance on Real Street, with a large window overlooking the square.

The original building became too small. Thus, in July 1907, the possibility arose of buying house number 2 on what was then Vega Street, now Tren Street, thus enlarging the old City Hall, which consisted of a single hall. By the 1920s, the need for expansion was becoming more and more necessary, as almost all staff members were located in the same premises. The rectory still consisted of a single room that was used for plenary sessions, as well as other commissions and local boards, with the municipal archive in the upper part. The construction of a new building was really necessary, which is why two years later, house number 14 on Calle Real was purchased to house all the premises. A building of these characteristics was never built here; what was done was to repair and refurbish it to a certain extent.

At the end of 1931, the City Hall was still standing at 56 Calle Real. Gradually, renovation work was carried out in the meeting room and at the entrance, with the elevation of the door, work on the staircase leading to the upper part, variation of the dividing wall of the two bodies, as well as a change in the pavement. The different rooms would be distributed between the primitive building, in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, and house no. 14 on Calle Real.

In September 1938, the Casa Consistorial would be renovated in different stages, so as not to hinder the bureaucratic process, having to move the offices and dependencies to other places if they wanted to undertake a total removal and renovation at the same time. A year later, it was necessary to continue with these works and demolish the existing structures, with the idea of taking advantage of the materials to make a new building. Thus, the offices were moved to the then No. 19, Calle Real.

The inauguration would coincide with the Feast of the Holy Cross, on May 3, 1941, so that a large number of outsiders came to visit the new building.

Years later, on July 18, 1955, a new assembly hall was inaugurated and blessed, coinciding with the blessing of the water supply expansion works. At the end of the same year, the need to place iron gates on the arches of the façade of this building was raised, since the upper floor lacked security guarantees, as it could be accessed from the street. In January 1956, the construction and installation of the gates was contracted with the blacksmith Ricardo Borreguero Domínguez, for the price of 14,000 pesetas. In March, the gates were already in place.

It is of interest to mention the tower of the old Consistory of El Viso, located in the Plaza del Sagrado Corazón and inserted in a building of the first half of the twentieth century, which replaces the previous one. This tower is from the middle of the 19th century, ofneo-Gothic style and with a clock on the front, facing the square.

Currently, and after a recent restoration of the building, the new Municipal Archive, inaugurated in November 2021, is located there.