City Hall | |
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Dewan Bandaraya | |
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Former names | Municipal Offices |
General information | |
Type | City hall |
Architectural style | Edwardian Baroque and Palladian |
Address | Esplanade Road, 10200 George Town, Penang, Malaysia |
Town or city | George Town, Penang |
Country | Malaysia |
Coordinates | 5°25′19″N100°20′29″E / 5.42194°N 100.34139°E |
Current tenants | Penang Island City Council |
Completed | 1903 |
Cost | $35,000 |
Owner | Penang Island City Council |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 2 |
Type | Cultural |
Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
Designated | 2008 (32nd session) |
Reference no. | 1223 |
Region | Asia-Pacific |
The City Hall is the local government headquarters of George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Built by the British, it now serves as the seat of the Penang Island City Council and was previously the seat of the George Town City Council.
Originally completed in 1903 as the Municipal Offices, the building was erected at a cost of $100,000 to relieve the demand for office space at the adjacent Town Hall. [1] [2] The name City Hall dates back to the grant of city status to George Town in 1957.
Both the City Hall and the Town Hall are located at Esplanade Road, overlooking the historic parade ground (the Padang) within the Esplanade. The buildings are also situated within George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Completed in 1903, the two-storey building combines Edwardian Baroque and Palladian architectural styles. It has been listed as a national monument since 1982 under the Antiquities Act 1976. [3]
The building was last renovated between 2004 and 2005. Although the City Hall retains much of its original form, the original arcades or loggias on the ground floor have been enclosed with windows.
The history of George Town's municipal accommodations began in 1873, when a proposal to construct the Town Hall was first mooted. [4] The construction of the Town Hall commenced in 1879 and was inaugurated in the following year, making it George Town's first municipal building. [2] [5] [6] [7]
The Town Hall housed the local government for George Town, the Municipal Commission of George Town and served as a venue for social events for the European elite. [1] [2] However, the Municipal Commission soon deemed the office space within the Town Hall to be insufficient. Hence, plans were drawn up for the construction of another municipal building right next door.
Tenders were called for the construction of the Municipal Offices in 1900. [2] Lee Ah Chang, a local ethnic Chinese, won the contract with a bid amounting to $75,400 (Straits dollar). The Municipal Offices was built in the Edwardian Baroque and Palladian styles, which were popular at the time. [1]
By the time the Municipal Offices was completed in 1903, its construction cost had ballooned to $100,000 (Straits dollar). [2] The Municipal Commission of George Town decided to covertly relocate from the Town Hall into the adjacent Municipal Offices, and that no inauguration ceremony was to be held. Since the completion of the Municipal Offices, the Town Hall took on a more social function.
The Municipal Offices held the distinction of being one of the first buildings in Penang to be completely fitted with electric lights and fans. [1]
The Municipal Offices was renamed the City Hall in 1957, when George Town was declared a city by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Thus, the City Hall served as the seat of the George Town City Council until its eventual merger with the Penang Island Rural District Council to form the Penang Island Municipal Council in 1976. Even after this 1976 consolidation of Penang Island's two local councils, Penangites still referred to the building as the City Hall.
Today, the City Hall serves as the headquarters of the Penang Island City Council.
George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is the core city of the George Town Conurbation, Malaysia's second largest metropolitan area with a population of 2.84 million and the second highest contributor to the country's GDP. The city proper spans an area of 306 km2 (118 sq mi) encompassing Penang Island and surrounding islets, and had a population of 794,313 as of 2020.
The City of Singapore existed between 1951 and 1965 in the Colony of Singapore, a British Crown colony and later in the State of Singapore within Malaysia, with the City Council as the governing authority. Before 1951, the City Council was known as the Municipal Commission. The rest of the crown colony was under the authority of the Singapore Rural Board. The city served as the capital of Colony of Singapore, and the State of Singapore from 1951 until its abolishment in 1965.
The Tun Abdul Razak Complex is a civic complex of five buildings within the central business district of George Town, Penang. It first opened on 2 December 1976. At the time of its completion in 1985, the central skyscraper of the complex, Komtar Tower, at 231.7 metres (760 ft), was the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia. The complex contains 1,420,000 square feet (132,000 m2) of office and retail space on a 27-acre (11 ha) superblock. It is a major bus terminal for Rapid Penang, and the seat of the Penang state government and the chief minister of Penang.
The Chingay Parade is an annual street parade held in Malaysia and Singapore as part of the Chinese New Year festivities, usually in celebration of the birthdays of Chinese deities or in some cases with the procession of the Goddess of Mercy (Guanyin). The name "Chingay" derives from Hokkien, conflating two words: chin-gē (真藝) meaning "true art", and chng-gē (妝藝) meaning "art of costume". PAYM has been an active contributor to Chingay in Singapore. Today, the parade is celebrated by all communities of both Malaysia and Singapore.
Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located on the Malay Peninsula and separated from Penang Island by the Penang Strait, it shares borders with Kedah to the north and east, and Perak to the south. The city spans an area of 748 km2 (289 sq mi) and had a population of 946,092 as of 2020, making it the third largest city in Malaysia.
The State of Penang, one of the most developed and urbanised Malaysian states, is located at the nation's northwest coast along the Malacca Strait. Unlike most Malaysian states, the history of modern Penang was shaped by British colonialism, beginning with the acquisition of Penang Island from the Sultanate of Kedah by the British East India Company in 1786. Developed into a free port, the city state was subsequently governed as part of the Straits Settlements, together with Singapore and Malacca; the state capital, George Town, briefly became the capital of this political entity between 1826 and 1832. By the end of the 19th century, George Town prospered and became one of the major entrepôts in Southeast Asia.
Edwardian architecture usually means a Neo-Baroque architectural style that was popular for public buildings in the British Empire during the Edwardian era (1901–1910). Architecture up to 1914 is commonly included in this style.
The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) is the local government that administers the city of George Town, which includes the entirety of Penang Island. The city council, which has jurisdiction over an area of 306 km2 (118 sq mi), falls under the purview of the Penang state government.
John Buttery was a merchant operating in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore. He was, at the time of his death, the senior partner of Sandilands, Buttery & Co., and John Buttery & Co..
Cheah Tek Soon was a 19th-century Penang businessman, and headman of the Hokkien in Penang, after whom Tek Soon Street was named. He was an active member of the Penang community and the bandstand that was erected near the Town Hall before the Japanese Occupation was his gift to the city.
Robert Ibbetson was a colonial governor of the Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca, and Singapore from 1832 to 1834.
The flag of Penang consists of three vertical bands and an areca-nut palm on a grassy mount in the centre. All three bands are of equal width. From left to right, the colour of each band is light blue, white and yellow.
Beach Street is a major thoroughfare in George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. Part of the city's central business district, it is also one of the oldest streets in Penang, having been created soon after the founding of the state by Captain Francis Light in 1786.
The Queen Victoria Memorial in George Town, Penang is a monument to Queen Victoria, begun after her death, located at the Penang Chinese Recreation Club. Penang's Victoria Memorial takes the form of a large piece of land known as "Victoria Green," and a statue at the edge of Victoria Green at the junction of Burmah Road and Pangkor Road, the establishment of each being years apart from the other. The grounds were purchased and set up in 1903 and the statue unveiled in 1930, nearly three decades later.
Robert Norman Bland (1859–1948), or "R. N. Bland," as he was more commonly known then in The Straits, was Resident Councillor of Penang and a career civil servant in the Colonial Administration of the Straits Settlements.
The Penang High Court, founded in 1808, is the birthplace of Malaysia's judiciary system. It is housed inside a Palladian-style building at Light Street, George Town, Penang. To this day, the High Court sits at the top of Penang's hierarchy of courts.
Light Street is the oldest road in the city of George Town within the Malaysian state of Penang. It was named after the founder of Penang, Captain Francis Light. As the epicentre of George Town, the street was created soon after Light established the settlement in 1786 and has been serving as a major thoroughfare within the city centre ever since.
The Town Hall is a British-built administrative building in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is located adjacent to the City Hall, which now serves as the seat of the Penang Island City Council.
George Town, the capital city of the state of Penang, is the second largest city in Malaysia and the economic centre of the country's northern region. The history of George Town began with its establishment by Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786. Founded as a free port, George Town became the first British settlement in Southeast Asia and prospered in the 19th century as one of the vital British entrepôts within the region. It briefly became the capital of the Straits Settlements, a British crown colony which also consisted of Singapore and Malacca.