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Origin and history

Billom City Hall, built between 1857 and 1861 under the Second Empire, is part of an urban development campaign including fountains (1857-1858). Designed by the Clermont architect Henri Taché, it is distinguished by its black andesite facades of Volvic and a symmetrical composition typical of the end of neo-classicism, decorated with neo-Renaissance decorations. The initial project of 1849 to transform the former hall was abandoned in favour of a new construction, with three bodies of independent buildings: the central town hall, a asylum room and a fire room.

The work, awarded in 1857 to Cournon's Bretonnet contractors, was interrupted in 1860 after two thirds of its construction. Rejoined at the expense of the contractors, they were completed in 1861, with a final reception signed by Taché. The pediment adorned with an imperial andesite eagle, attributed to the sculptor Béraud, was removed in 1870. The building underwent subsequent modifications: renovation of the roof in 1928, construction of the post in a lateral pavilion from 1935, and partial transformation into a people's house (project of 1932, completed in 1938).

The materials — Volvic stone for facades, darkened stone for secondary elevations — and architectural elements such as the false vault of the vestibule or the andesite staircase reflect local techniques. The interior, redesigned in the 20th century, housed successively a court (until 1890), a Caisse d'Epargne, a boys' school, and then the post office. Ranked Historic Monument in 1995, the city hall embodies Billom's urban and political heritage under Napoleon III.

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