What is George carrying when he walks out of the Town Hall?

I thought so too. And we never see him do anything with it afterwards. I wasn't sure if scenes were deleted from the original cut which would have explained why they bothered to show us that. Or if it was 'in the book' and without reading the book, you don't necessarily know why it's in the film.

Even weirder is the scene comes before they discover the hidden room in the basement. You would think it made more sense for him to seek out the blueprints after finding that room.