Auckland Town Hall

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The Town Hall from nearby Aotea Square.
The Town Hall from nearby Aotea Square.

The Auckland Town Hall is a historical building in Auckland City, New Zealand, known both for its use for administrative functions (such as Council hearings) as well as for its famed concert hall.

[edit] History

Building

Opened on 14 December 1911 by Baron Islington, then the Governor General of New Zealand, the building is one of the most prominent historical sites on Queen Street. Costing £ 126,000 to construct, it was designed by Melbourne architects, JJ & EJ Clarke, their Italian Renaissance Revival building selected from amongst 46 proposals. The five-storey building was specially designed to fit the wedge-shaped piece of land that had been acquired for it at the meeting of Queen Street ad Grey Street. The town hall formed Auckland's first permanent seat of both administration and entertainment in the young city's early history, with its concert hall (seating 1,673) modelled on the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, and being considered as having one of the finest acoustics in the world.[1][2]

Its interior was extensively restored from 1994-1997 for NZ$ 33 million, because the unreinforced masrony structure did not meet earthquake standards, especially as a gathering place. Sinclair Knight Merz pioneered various techniques to reinforce the structure without substantially changing the heritage character of the building.[3] The exterior is currently (2007) undergoing restoration work[citation needed] as well.[1][2]

Organ

The Town Hall organ, also dating from 1911, was extensively remodelled in 1969-1970, and was dismantled in January 2008. A new organ, incorporating parts of the 1911 original, is currently being built by Orgelbau Klais of Bonn, Germany. It is to return at the end of 2008, to be reassembled as the country's largest organ.[4]

Auckland city has committed itself to providing NZ$ 3 million to the restoration project, with the remainder to be obtained via private fundraising.[5]

[edit] References

Overhead view of the Town Hall at night.
Overhead view of the Town Hall at night.
  1. ^ a b Auckland Town Hall (tourist attractions webpage of the Auckland City Council website)
  2. ^ a b Auckland Town Hall (from the 'Great Hall Venue Specifications' document of the 'the-edge.co.nz' website)
  3. ^ The Engineering Heritage of Auckland (dynamic link from the 'Heritage Walks' website of IPENZ)
  4. ^ Organ Heading for Germany (from a news release on the 'aucklandorgan.org.nnz' website. Accessed 2008-03-26.)
  5. ^ The Town Hall Organ (from the Auckland City Council website)

[edit] External links

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