The Temperance Hall was built in 1853 on a site fronting onto Granby Street, Leicester. The Architect was James Medland of Gloucester. The main hall was 100 feet long by 58 feet wide, and could seat 1,800 people. It had a balcony on three sides with a platform stage at the far end. It also had a smaller lecture room which could accommodate 350 people, and was the first public building in Leicester to have piped water.
The Hall opened on Monday the 19th of September 1853, described as 'New Music Hall' London Road.
The Temperance Hall was built by Thomas Cook the father of Tourism. He was a strict Baptist and member of the Temperance movement. Cook first arranged a trip to take 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester's Campbell Street Railway Station to the town of Loughborough, 11 miles away on the 5th of July 1841, for a Temperance rally, and charged one shilling which included the rail ticket and food on the journey. They travelled in 9 open carriages without seats, returning to Leicester by 10.30pm that evening.
Closing on 2nd July 1960, the building was eventually demolished in the 1960's and an uninteresting concrete 60's block of shops erected in its place.
Thomas Cook's 157 year old Temperance Hotel building still stands 'just' (See Below) as Leicester City Council have recently given permission for its demolition to great outcry from the Leicester Victorian Society and the public of Leicester. In its place it is proposed to build a seven story office block with shops and a restaurant.