Up to £580,000 is to be used to tackle dry rot in Norwich's historic Shirehall, after permission to carry out "significant" repair work was granted.
Museum bosses had submitted proposals to Norwich City Council to tackle the issue in the Grade II listed building, which served as the city's court for more than 180 years.
And planners at City Hall have granted permission for the work to be done, saying it is "beneficial to the long-term preservation of a designated heritage asset and its continued viable use".
Problems with dry rot in the building, in Market Avenue, were first identified in 2019.
At that time, it was thought to affect a relatively small area of the wood-panelled Victorian courtroom.
But subsequent studies revealed it was a "significant" outbreak which covered about 25pc of the space in the Market Avenue courtroom.
Stuart Garner, Norwich Museums operations manager, confirmed earlier this year that it was within the structural timbers of the roof.
Because the Shirehall is a listed building, special consent needed to be secured to carry out the work - and City Hall officers used delegated powers to grant permission.
The work will see the repair and replacement of roof timbers affected by both dry and wet rot, as well as the overhauling of the existing rainwater drainage system.
And repairs will be made to sections of the internal courtroom damaged by dry rot.
Norfolk County Council's Conservative-controlled cabinet previously agreed to make £580,000 available to tackle the dry rot problem.
HISTORY OF THE SHIREHALL
The Shirehall was built in 1822-24 as the county courtrooms for Norfolk and is attributed to architect William Wilkins.
The building is constructed in a neo-Tudor style and is two storeys in height with red brick and limestone dressings.
Major structural work was carried out in 1846 and the building was refaced in 1913-14.
The Shirehall Chambers were built to provide extra offices in 1907.
The Shirehall was listed as Grade II in 1972.
It ceased to be used as a court in 1988. The courtroom was then restored in 2013 and in recent years it has been used for 'living history' performances, as well as for public and private events.
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