From the cellar to the façade - The historic county house is being renovated

The public procurement notice announcement concerning the renovation and partial energy and structural modernisation of the building was published a few days ago.

A restorer restores 12 precious doors and windows

The contractor will have to work in a historic environment and on the site of an archaeological site, in the heart of Miskolc, at Patak Street and Városház Square. The historic building to be renovated has a floor area of 4,377 square metres.

The reconstruction work will involve the renovation of the more than 4,200 square metres of the façade of the county hall, the limestone plinth covering of the building, which covers about 670 square metres.
 

The project involves the replacement and renovation of 224 external windows and doors of the county hall. 12 windows and doors of historic value have been designated. These will have to be restored by the winning tenderer with the assistance of a restoration expert.

The project also includes the painting of nearly 15 thousand square metres of wall surfaces

The contractor will also have to carry out a large amount of work in the interiors. In the case of the basement walls, the contract notice requires subsequent soil damp-proofing work. The project also includes making the building accessible by installing a lift.

The building's mechanical systems will also be renewed as part of the energy modernisation. In addition to a heat-pump heating and cooling system, a completely new high-voltage and low-voltage electrical network will be installed over an area of around 4,400 square metres of the dwelling. The renovation will require the contractor to paint around 14,744 square metres of the surface area.

The robber of the county house left with a gun and money

During the renovation, the building will have a new access control, camera and fire alarm system. In addition to the energy system, the current project also includes upgrading the security system. In 1935, the whole country was agog as to who had looted the county hall under the cover of night. The burglar wasn't interested in the documents, but rather in the money kept in an iron box in the archbishop's office. The unauthorised intruder stole the 2,600 pence, as well as a revolver and a lead shotgun found in the building. Investigators searched for the perpetrator for months, and finally caught the looter after the Budapest police and another burglary using a similar method.

The classicist gem without the timpanone

Miskolc's neoclassical listed building has many peculiarities, one of the most famous being that although the timpanon is considered an essential element of this style, it is not something anyone would look for here.
The office, with its Ionic columns and wrought-iron balustrade, was built in the 1820s on the site of a Baroque predecessor. The construction of the county house was a rather halting process,
drawn out over decades. Its façade dates from the 1840s.

There were protracted debates about the interior spaces, and the great hall was considered unusable because of its acoustics. After repairs to the county hall were completed, the advice of Joseph Hild was sought for the finishing works. The building has been altered several times over the last century, and was enlarged in the 1940s and 1960s.
The artistic value of the County House is further enhanced by the fact that the banqueting hall of the County House, built to the design of József Losonczy, is decorated with allegorical murals by Dezső Raksányi, a representative of the Benczúr School.
Tenders for the renovation and modernisation of the building's mechanical systems are expected by the end of the month. According to the tenderer's preliminary plans, the work on the county hall will take a year and a half.