24-520: Melbourne Town Hall , often referred to as simply Town Hall , is the administrative seat of the local municipality of the City of Melbourne and the primary offices of the Lord Mayor and city councillors of Melbourne. Located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins street in the central business district of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia , the building was completed in 1887 and heritage listed on
48-625: A civic reception at the Melbourne Town Hall. "Outside 20,000 teenagers had gathered to obtain a glimpse of the pop idols. Again, frenzied and hysterical cheering and uncontrollable screaming erupted when the Beatles emerged." The Town Hall was designed by the famous local architect Joseph Reed and Barnes, in the Second Empire style. Reed's designs also included the State Library of Victoria ,
72-495: A fire destroyed a large part of the town hall, including the main auditorium and pipe organ valued then at £15,000. It was rebuilt and enlarged, extending east over the site previously occupied by the Victoria Coffee Palace, an early temperance hotel frequented by Melbourne's power brokers. The rebuilt section lost some of Reed's original flourishes including the elaborate mansard roof. In 1964, The Beatles attended
96-513: A fire destroyed it in 1925. A new organ constructed by Hill Norman & Beard was installed in 1929 and has since then been rebuilt and enlarged by Schantz Organ Company of the United States of America from 1995 to 2001 at a cost of $ 4.5 million. The rebuild included 2 new floating divisions (Fanfare & Bombarde), many new voices and a secondary moveable console The stop list is as follows: Seat of government The seat of government
120-511: A redecoration of the Auditorium after a fire in 1925. Waller, who had been given a free hand in devising the artworks explained that the figures were not intended to be allegorical, but to create rhythm, and that line-work was used because a skin of paint would interfere with the panels' sound-absorbing quality. The actual painting on the series of 7 metre high by 4m wide wall sections from Waller's half-scale cartoons produced in his Darebin studio
144-400: Is (as defined by Brewer's Politics ) "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority ". In most countries, the nation's capital is also seat of its government, thus that city is appropriately referred to as the national seat of government. The terms are not however, completely synonymous, as some countries ' seat of government differs from
168-760: Is located across the road from the eight-hour day monument which was erected to honour the Victorian workers who won the first 8-hour working day in the world in 1856. It is the birthplace of organisations like the Victorian Labor Party and the Australian Council of Trade Unions . Four flags fly from the roof of the building: the Australian Flag , the Eureka Flag , the Australian Aboriginal flag , and
192-664: The French General Paul Pau , the Princes of Wales Edward VIII , and Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester . James was described as a "friend, guide, and philosopher" to many Lord Mayors of Melbourne. When opera singer Dame Nellie Melba performed at the Hall in 1928, she wanted to give an encore, but her piano had been packed up and there was no music. James lent her his piano from his upstairs penthouse so she could perform. On 1 February 1925,
216-547: The Royal Exhibition Building , and Melbourne Trades Hall . The building is topped by Prince Alfred's Tower, named after the Duke. The tower includes a 2.44 m diameter clock, which was started on 31 August 1874, after being presented to the council by the Mayor's son, Vallange Condell. It was built by Smith and Sons of London. The longest of its copper hands measures 1.19 m long, and weighs 8.85 kg. The building and
240-475: The Victorian Heritage Register in 1974. The building is frequently used for art and cultural events such as concerts , festivals , theatrical plays and exhibitions . Melbourne was officially incorporated as a town on 13 December 1842, with Henry Condell as its first Mayor . However, it was not until 1854 that its first Town Hall was completed. Begun in 1851, the work ground to a halt with
264-494: The red flag . Trades Hall is home to a number of Victorian trade unions , community organisations and left-wing political parties . Until 2017, it had also served as the headquarters of the National Union of Students . The Hall is primarily used by Victorian labour organisations as a space for organising and coordinating campaigns. The Hall also hosts occupational health and safety training for workers. The various rooms of
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#1732843975776288-616: The 1880s in the Australian labour movement, the committee became a Council to reflect its expanding role, though the full title, Victorian Trades Hall Council was only formally adopted in 1968. The building remains one of the most historically important sites in Melbourne today, being classified by the National Trust and included in the Register of Historic Buildings (Victoria). The Trades Hall
312-413: The Hall can also be hired out for functions, meetings or conferences and it is often used for theatrical productions and to display artwork. The Hall has a bar which is patronised by trade union members and political activists and a bookshop which sells political texts. In 1931, the hall was used as a broadcast venue for 3KZ, the predecessor station to Gold 104.3 . In recent times, as well as serving as
336-451: The Hall's penthouse, raising their children there, and retired in 1943. During their upbringing in the Town Hall, their only playing space was a small asphalt yard where the children went "pigeon-nesting" on the roof. In his obituary in 1946, The Argus reported that James was a familiar face at the Hall in this era. In his duties, he greeted various visitors from locals to royals, including
360-593: The Melbourne Trades Hall Committee was formed and received a grant of land from premier John O'Shanassy to build the Melbourne Trades Hall. The original Trades Hall was opened in May 1859, built by workers as an organising place for the labour movement in Melbourne, and as a medium to educate workers and their families. The workers financed the construction of the building themselves. It was built in
384-502: The Sydney Opera House organ has more pipes thanks to its entirely "straight" design; there is no borrowing or duplexing at all whereas the Melbourne Town Hall organ makes extensive use of borrowing in the pedal division). The organ is best suited for romantic and symphonic works but is capable of playing just about anything thanks to its vast tonal resources. The organ was originally built by Hill & son (of England) in 1872 before
408-525: The beginning of the Victorian gold rush . The foundation stone of a new, grander Town Hall was laid on 29 November 1867 by the visiting Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh , after the demolition of the first. The current town hall officially opened on 11 August 1870 with a lavish ball , which was personally funded by the Lord Mayor Samuel Amess . The foundation stone of the additional front portico
432-643: The capital. The Netherlands , for example, has Amsterdam as its capital but The Hague is the seat of government; and the Philippines , with Manila as its capital but the metropolitan area of the same name (Metro Manila; also known as National Capital Region (NCR)), is the seat of government. Local and regional authorities usually have a seat, called an administrative centre , as well. Terms for seats of local government of various levels and in various countries include: Examples of seats of government include: There are several countries where, for various reasons,
456-653: The headquarters of various trade unions and being the centre for political and union activities, the Trades Hall Council has opened the Trades Hall building to many cultural events such as theatre productions, art exhibitions, plays, and concerts including the Melbourne Comedy Festival –concentrating on political and 'on the edge' performances. The Victorian Trades Hall Council continues to engage in campaigning and research activities, including releasing
480-581: The official capital and de facto seat of government are separated: Melbourne Trades Hall Victorian Trades Hall is the headquarters of the Victorian Trades Hall Council in Australia. It is located on the corner of Lygon and Victoria streets, just north of the Melbourne central business district in the suburb of Carlton . It is the oldest trade union building in the world. In 1856
504-495: The portico, excluding the interiors, were first classified on the basis of its Venetian Renaissance facade architecture by the National Trust in 1964 and reclassified in 1971. The organ and the 1927 murals by Napier Waller commissioned for £1,700 (a 2021 value of A$ 138,340.00) are also classified as historically significant at the State level. They were painted directly in line onto the newly installed asbestos Celotex acoustic tiles in
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#1732843975776528-473: The style of the parliament buildings which were just down the road, and over the years has been further developed. The original building was made of timber with galvanised iron roofing. Between 1874 and 1925, the Hall was rebuilt and upgraded by Joseph Reed , the architect responsible for Melbourne icons like the Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria . With increasing activity during
552-549: Was laid in 1887, and Sir Henry Weedon laid the foundation of the administrative annex building on 27 August 1908. An early cinema event Soldiers of the Cross premiered at the Melbourne Town Hall on 13 September 1900 to an audience of about four thousand people. In 1913, the city hired a hall keeper in his 30s named James "Jimmy" Dewar, a Scottish immigrant and Black Watch veteran from Dundee . He continued to work there loyally for 30 years. James lived with his wife and family in
576-491: Was undertaken by H. Oliver and Sons under the artist's supervision. The Main Auditorium includes a magnificent concert organ , now comprising 147 ranks and 9,568 pipes. The organ can be played by a fixed console located directly beneath the front pipes or by a secondary mobile console which is placed in close view of the audience for recitals. This organ is of great significance as it is the largest and most comprehensive pipe organ in Australia (measuring by number of voices/stops,
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