Coal Exchange £20m revamp begins

The Coal Exchange was the site of the world's first £1m deal

The building at the heart of Cardiff's 19th Century coal boom is being closed for two years for redevelopment.

The Coal Exchange, built between 1883 and 1886, is believed to be where the first recorded £1m deal was struck.

Once earmarked as a future home of the Welsh assembly, the wood-panelled hall has been a popular music venue.

The £20m redevelopment will include apartments, offices, shops and bars but it is unclear whether the hall will be used for gigs when it reopens in 2009.

The building's owners Macob have said it may still maintain the main hall to hold public events but according to local reports it is unlikely the venue will play host to music shows.

COAL EXCHANGE FACTS It was built between 1883 and 1886 and is believed to have cost £40,000 It was once the trading hub for south Wales' booming coal industry It is thought the first recorded £1m deal was struck there in 1904 More recently it has played host to gigs, award ceremonies, charity events and weddings Artists playing there included Van Morrison, Manic Street Preachers and PJ Harvey

The Coal Exchange was built at an estimated cost of £40,000 to meet the needs of the city's coal trade, when it was the world's biggest coal-exporting port.

Coal merchants chalked up the changing prices of coal on slates outside their offices or struck deals in the local public houses.

Following its opening, coal owners, ship owners and their agents met daily on the floor of the trading hall where agreements were made by word-of-mouth and where a novelty, the telephone, was available.

The building has been a popular music venue for many years

During the peak trading hour of midday to 1300 BST the floor might have as many as 200 men gesticulating and shouting.

It was thought that up to 10,000 people would go in and out of the building each day.

There was much excitement in 1904 when the world's first recorded million pound deal was struck at the Exchange. At one time the price of the world's coal was determined here.

The curtain is being brought down on the venue's current incarnation with a concert by country fusion group Alabama 3, best known for writing the title track to the hit US television crime drama series, The Sopranos.

The band's lead singer, Rob Spragg, is from Merthyr.