Manly Town Hall | |
---|---|
Manly Town Hall in 2013 | |
Former names | Llangollen |
General information | |
Status | Complete |
Type | Government town hall |
Architectural style |
|
Address | The Corso, Gilbert & Belgrave Streets, Manly, New South Wales |
Country | Australia |
Coordinates | 33°47′54″S151°17′06″E / 33.79841°S 151.28495°E Coordinates: 33°47′54″S151°17′06″E / 33.79841°S 151.28495°E |
Construction started | 12 June 1937 |
Completed | 1937 |
Client | Manly Municipal Council |
Owner | Northern Beaches Council (current) |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Samuel Reginald Maisey |
Architecture firm | Trenchard Smith & Maisey |
Main contractor | Stuart Bros. Ltd. |
New South Wales Heritage Database (Local Government Register) | |
Official name | Civic Buildings - Council Town Hall Admin. Building, Police Station & Court House |
Type | Complex / Group |
Criteria | a., c., d., g. |
Designated | 5 April 2013 |
Reference no. | Local register |
Group collection | Government and Administration |
Category | Council Chambers |
References | |
[1] |
The Manly Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The building is located at the junction of The Corso, Gilbert Street and Belgrave Street, opposite Manly ferry wharf. Designed in the Inter-war Stripped Classical style with Egyptian Revival style columns by Samuel Reginald Maisey, it replaced the previous town hall on the site, a Victorian Mansion built in 1879. The Town Hall was the seat of Manly Council from 1937 to 2016, when it became the site of the first meeting of the new Northern Beaches Council.
The original building on this site was a Victorian mansion known as Llangollen, which was built in 1879 as the residence of William Howard Rolfe (1818–1879), a prominent landowner and member of the Manly community. While Rolfe did not live long enough to reside there, the Rolfe Family lived there until it became a branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank and was finally purchased in 1909 by Manly Municipal Council. Manly Council, which had been incorporated in 1877, had been meeting in temporary premises including the original Ivanhoe Hotel in Ivanhoe Park, until 1909, and from then on Llangollen served as the new council chambers. However the size and style of the building was too small and unsuited to the needs of the council, despite the mansion having been purchased for the sum of £5000. [2]
For many years a debate raged over the construction of a new Town Hall at the present site. In May 1911 the mayor, Alderman James Bonner, passed through council a resolution that asked the council to "take into consideration the advisability of calling tenders for competitive designs for a Town Hall, to be erected on the present site." [3] In July 1912, the council appointed a sub-committee to examine the details of such a project, but found its firm opposition from Alderman Adam Ogilvy, who clashed in council with Alderman Ellison Quirk. [4]
In 1919, when Council proposed its first post-war loan for major public works, the new Town Hall was quickly eliminated as a project and by 1921 a protest committee headed by Alderman Ogilvy, conducted a successful campaign against any proposal, demanding that a referendum be held before any money was spent on such a project. The council committee also consulted the NSW President of the Institute of Architects, Sir Charles Rosenthal on the matter of the project. [5] By May 1924, council established a competition for the design, to be administered by Rosenthal. [6] A referendum was held in conjunction with the 1925 Council elections. Two propositions were put, for a new £40,000 Town Hall on the current site or £15,000 for a new Council Hall and offices and ‘making provision for an Art Gallery’ in front of the existing building. Both were heavily defeated.
In 1928 the Council again moved for a new competition for designs of a new Town Hall, which in May 1928 was won by the firms of Fowell and McConnel, Architects Hodges and Watts, who were asked to collaborate on an amended design. Their vision, costed at around £60,000, sparking a new debate and lambasted as 'pretentious', was rejected at another referendum in June 1928. [7] [8] [9] However opinion within the council was still firmly of the opinion that a new hall was needed. In August 1930, the Town Clerk of Manly, Les Wellings, having recently returned from an official visit to the recently built Newcastle City Hall, noted in his report that the "construction of a similar imposing building at the front door of Manly would give a tremendous impetus to the town." [10]
In July 1936, with the council's 60th anniversary jubilee only a year away, the council made the decision to restart efforts for the construction of a new town hall. During the council debate, Alderman Hanson Norman, who stood opposed to a new town hall, said nevertheless that the "present building was in a bad state of disrepair, it gave insufficient space for the staff, and this was a handicap in efficient administration."
The Mayor, Alderman Percy Nolan, noted that "the present building was a disgrace" and the motion was carried five votes to four. [11] By February 1937 the old Town Hall had been demolished and an Inter-war Stripped Classical design (with Egyptian Revival style columns) by Samuel Reginald Maisey of the prominent local firm Trenchard Smith & Maisey was chosen. [12]
On 12 June, marking the council's 60th anniversary, Alderman Nolan laid the foundation stone for the new Town Hall, which followed a tree-planting ceremony by former mayor Arthur T. Keirle. [13] A subsequent article in the Sydney Morning Herald noted that the new hall "will be a noticeable addition to the architecture of the suburb. Two storeys in height, the front, designed after the colonial style, is impressive. Four pillars, rising to parapet height, flank the main entrance. The rest of the exterior maintains the same imposing appearance." [14]
In 1965 extensions to the Council chambers at the rear of the Town Hall were completed on 30 September and were unveiled by Mayor William R. Nicholas and Deputy Mayor David Hay. With the amalgamation of Manly Council into the new Northern Beaches Council on 12 May 2016, the town hall was the site of the first meeting of the new council on 19 May, presided over by Administrator Dick Persson.
Manly Council was a local government area on the northern beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, first incorporated in 1877. On 12 May 2016, the Minister for Local Government announced that Manly Council would be subsumed into the newly formed Northern Beaches Council. The last Mayor of Manly Council was Cr. Jean Hay, a member of the Liberal Party.
Waverley Council is a Local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. First incorporated on 16 June 1859 as the Municipality of Waverley, it is one of the oldest-surviving local government areas in New South Wales. Waverley is bounded by the Tasman Sea to the east, the Municipality of Woollahra to the north, and the City of Randwick in the south and west. The administrative centre of Waverley Council is located on Bondi Road in Bondi Junction in the Council Chambers on the corner of Waverley Park.
Thomas Rowe was a British-born architect, builder and goldminer who became one of Australia's leading architects of the Victorian era. He was also a politician, who was the first Mayor of Manly.
The Municipality of Alexandria was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Originally part of the municipalities of Redfern from 1859 and Waterloo from 1860, the Borough of Alexandria was proclaimed on 27 August 1868. With an area of 4.2 square kilometres, it included the modern suburbs of Alexandria, Beaconsfield and parts of Eveleigh, St Peters and Erskineville. After a minor boundary change with the Municipality of Erskineville in 1908, the council was amalgamated with the City of Sydney, along with most of its neighbours, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, although the former council area was later transferred in 1968–1982 and 1989–2004 to the South Sydney councils.
Percy Leonard Nolan was an Australian solicitor and mayor of Manly Council.
Ellison Wentworth Quirk was a New South Wales politician, Alderman and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Warringah from 1901 to 1904.
The Civic Reform Association, variously known as the Civic Reform Movement and the Citizens' Reform Association, was an Australian non-aligned ratepayers' organisation that was formed by approximately seventy people at the Sydney Town Hall on 20 January 1920. Its aim was to remove the administration of the City of Sydney from the control of the Australian Labor Party.
The Municipality of Redfern was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The small municipality was proclaimed in 1859 as one of the first municipalities proclaimed under the new provisions of the Municipalities Act, 1858, and was centred on the suburbs of Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Surry Hills. The council was amalgamated, along with most of its neighbours, with the City of Sydney to the north with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948. From 1968 to 1982 and from 1989 to 2004, the area was part of the South Sydney councils.
The Erskineville Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Erskineville, a suburb of Sydney. It stands at 104 Erskineville Road. It was opened in 1938 in the Inter-war Georgian revival style by Lindsay Gordon Scott. The Town Hall was the seat of Erskineville Municipal Council from 1938 to 1948 and was the seat of the South Sydney Councils from 1968 to 1982 and 1989 to 2003. Since 2004 the town hall has been a community centre for the City of Sydney servicing the local area.
The Municipality of Darlington was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed in 1864 and, with an area of 0.2 square kilometres, was the smallest municipal council in Sydney. It included the entire suburb of Darlington, excepting a small block between Golden Grove and Forbes streets, which was administered by the Municipality of Redfern in Golden Grove Ward. The council was amalgamated, along with most of its neighbours, with the City of Sydney to the north with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948. From 1968 to 1982 and from 1989 to 2004, the area was part of the South Sydney councils.
The Warringah Shire Hall was an Australian municipal town hall located on Pittwater Road opposite Robert Street in Brookvale, a suburb of the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales. Initially built in 1910 as a Federation bungalow, the complex was expanded with the addition of "Shire Hall" in 1912, the final form was completed in 1923 with the addition of a second floor to a design by Trenchard Smith and Maisey. The Shire Hall was the seat of Warringah Council from 1910 to 1973, when the council moved to a new purpose-built Civic Centre on further down Pittwater Road in Dee Why. The Shire Hall survived amid uncertainty over its future but was eventually sold and demolished in 1978.
The Leichhardt Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Leichhardt, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It stands at 107 Norton Street. It was built in 1888 in the Victorian Italianate style by architects Drake and Walcott. The Town Hall was the seat of Leichhardt Municipal Council from 1888 to 2016 and is now one of the seats of the new Inner West Council. The hall is listed on the Australian Register of the National Estate and the local government heritage database.
The Municipality of Annandale was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed on 29 December 1893 as the Borough of Annandale when the East Ward of Leichhardt Council separated, and, with an area of 1.4 square kilometres, covered the entire suburb of Annandale, excepting a small block between Johnstons Creek, Booth Street and Parramatta Road. The council was amalgamated with the Municipality of Leichhardt to the west with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948.
The Municipality of Balmain was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed in February 1860 and, with an area of 3.8 square kilometres, covered the entire peninsula of Balmain north of Callan Park and Foucart Street, including the present suburbs of Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove and Rozelle. The council was amalgamated with the municipalities of Leichhardt and Annandale to the south with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948.
The Municipality of Erskineville was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as the "Municipal District of Macdonald Town" on 23 May 1872 and, with an area of 0.8 square kilometres, was one of the smallest local government areas in Sydney and included the modern suburb of Erskineville, part of Eveleigh and the locality of Macdonaldtown. The council was amalgamated, along with most of its neighbours, with the City of Sydney to the north with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948. From 1968 to 1982 and from 1989 to 2004, the area was part of the South Sydney councils, with the former Town Hall serving as its council chambers.
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