PAISLEY TOWN HALL AND CLARK FAMILY

The town hall, designed like a Corinthian temple on the east side and Ionic on the north, was well-furnished. The largest hall, featuring a balcony, stage, and organ, could accommodate 2,000 people. On the south side, there were reading and smoking rooms for the working class. A smaller hall to the south could serve various purposes, including as a Masonic temple. The building had many rooms. Two tall towers reached up into the sky. The tallest tower housed a clock with chimes and a carillon, one for each day of the month. Among the tunes played were Tannahill's "Bonnie Wood O' Craigielea" and "The Marseillaise," reflecting Paisley's radical tradition. Each side of the clock tower was topped with statues representing the Four Seasons, while the smaller tower acted as a ventilation shaft. Over the years, our magnificent town hall has served many functions. It has hosted prime ministers like Asquith, Lloyd George, and Edward Heath in front of voters. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was a popular venue for Saturday night dances, with Jimmy McCracken's band playing all night long. Talent competitions, concerts, boxing matches, and pantomimes were also favorites among the people of Paisley. Weddings in the town hall's "Art Galleries" were seen as very classy. And who could forget the celebrations on the balcony after St Mirren won the Scottish Cup for the third time? In recent years, our town hall has been renovated to ensure that this gift from the Clark family remains a cornerstone of Paisley's community for the next century.