SINCE 1967, Southend Civic Centre has dominated the town’s skyline as one of the most recognisable buildings in the area, while inside, it has been the scene for countless fiery council decisions that have shaped the town over the last half century.

Opened by the Queen Mother when the Beatles were still recording music, the building has remarkably changed very little on the outside over the years. 

In the Echo’s archives, we have pictures of mayormaking ceremonies – still a tradition now – from the Eighties, building work for poll tax building from the same era, and images of the fountain outside the tower block, dating back to the Seventies.