and
stainless steel structure, designed by
John Hoskin, known as "Resurgence" In the late 1960s proposals were developed by the
Shepherd Building Group to demolish the town's market hall and redevelop the area: these proposals were supported by the
Conservative administration on the Borough Council. The borough architect, Eric Tornbohm, subsequently developed plans, which were supported by the successor
Labour Party administration to create a series of "concrete and glass boxes" in the area. After
Alfred Waterhouse's
town hall became inadequate, civic leaders decided to construct the first of these "concrete and glass boxes": the site they selected in Feethams had been occupied by the Lead Yard Bus Station which itself had been built on the site of the old Darlington Union Workhouse. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the
Minister of Housing and Local Government,
Anthony Greenwood, on 30 November 1967. It was designed by Williamson, Faulkner Brown and Partners and was opened by
Princess Anne on 27 May 1970. Internally, the principal room was the council chamber which was decorated with vertical strips of elm wood. The plaque referred to "The Spirit of New Darlington" but the structure subsequently became known as "Resurgence". and remained the local seat of government when the enlarged Darlington District Council was formed in 1974. It went on to become the headquarters of the new
unitary authority,
Darlington Borough Council, in 1997. The council chamber subsequently became an approved venue for marriages and civil partnerships. ==References==