Former town hall
Over the years Rolde had three town halls. The building at Hoofdstraat 11, designed by J. Neisingh in 1918, is still almost intact.
Rolde was a municipality of its own until 1998. The map with this entry points to the building at Hoofdstraat 11; the other two are described below as well.
Hoofdstraat 25 (1797-1918)
The first town hall stood at Hoofdstraat 25, at the junction with the Gieterstraat and the Grolloërstraat. Sicco Tjassens built it in 1797. Before then the local authority had no fixed home and met at various addresses.
Hoofdstraat 11 (1918-1974)
When the building at number 25 became too small, a new town hall was built in 1918 at Hoofdstraat 11, with a caretaker's house. The Assen architect J. Neisingh designed it in the traditionalist style that was usual at the time. During alterations in 1936 a lock-up for detainees was added at the back; it was later demolished. A wooden outbuilding for storing fuel was put up in the garden.
The building has a single storey on a rectangular plan and a hipped roof covered with improved Dutch pantiles, with a concave curve. At each end of the ridge is a chimney with a cap. On top is an octagonal roof turret, with natural slates on its sides and copper slates on its cap. The façades have pilasters, recessed panels around the windows and brick dormers. The front is symmetrical, with a stone front step, double panelled doors and a wooden canopy on carved brackets. Inside, three fireplaces have survived, some with old glazed tile panels, along with a number of original doors in their surrounds.
After the municipality moved out in 1974, the building was sold and converted into a house with office space. It is of value as an example of how town halls were built at the time, and for its intact state and its place in the streetscape.
Grote Brink 3 (1974-1998)
Rolde's last town hall was at Grote Brink 3, in the building of the former junior agricultural school from 1952. It served as the town hall for almost twenty-five years. After that it went to De Trans, a foundation for the care and support of people with learning disabilities.
In 1998 Rolde became part of the new municipality of Aa en Hunze. Its town hall is in Gieten.
