The first municipal building in the town, which was originally known as Newark, was a tolbooth, which was completed in the late 17th century.[2] Following significant population growth, largely associated with the status of Port Glasgow as a seaport, the area became a police burgh in 1803.[3] By that time, the tolbooth had become dilapidated and the burgh commissioners decided to raise money, by public subscription, to erect a new structure.[2][4]
The new building was designed by David Hamilton in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone at a cost of £12,000 and was completed in December 1816.[2][5][6] The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing northwest along Fore Street; the central section of three bays featured a full-height tetrastyle portico with Doric order columns supporting an entablature and a central roundel which was flanked by volutes and contained the town's coat of arms.[2] The outer bays were fenestrated with sash windows and flanked by full-height pilasters supporting an entablature and a balustrade.[2] At roof level, there was a central three stage tower, with round headed windows and Ionic order columns in the first stage, an octagonal piece with clock faces in the second stage and a belfry in the third stage.[2] The tower was surmounted by a spire, which was 150 feet (46 m) high, and a weather vane.[2] Internally, the principal room was the council chamber, which had a coffered and vaulted ceiling; the building also contained courtrooms and a series of prison cells.[2]
Alterations to the town building were carried out in the early 1860s,[2]and, although a new public hall was commissioned as a venue for civic events in Princes Street in the early 1870s,[7][2] the Fore Street building remained the offices of the council officers and their departments.[2] A new bell, cast by James Duff and Sons of Greenock, was installed in the belfry in 1879.[2]
The town buildings continued to serve as the headquarters of Port Glasgow Burgh Council,[8] but ceased to be the local seat of government when the enlarged Inverclyde District Council was formed in 1975.[9] After the building had stood empty for twelve years and had become seriously dilapidated, an extensive programme of refurbishment works was completed in August 1996.[10] The works involved the removal of the rear wall, which had originally been harled, and the erection of a modern extension.[10] These changes allowed the ground floor of the building to be used as a public library,[11] and the first floor to become offices for a public body, Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited.[12][13] Following further works, which included the reconfiguration of the library space and the creation of a new atrium, the building re-opened in August 2021.[14]
