Adelaide Town Hall
34°55′33.96″S 138°36′0.66″E / 34.9261000°S 138.6001833°E
Adelaide Town Hall is a landmark building on
Description and history
Adelaide Town Hall was based on the winning design in an 1863 architectural competition
The Adelaide Town Hall was the venue on 1 August 1895 for the inaugural meeting of the Australasian Federation League of South Australia, this organisation having been formed at a meeting convened seven months earlier by the Australian Natives' Association in the colony. This league was the principal organisation that campaigned in favour of federation in South Australia. The meeting at the Town Hall was a major public gathering attended by many prominent South Australians. The meeting was also notable for the large number of women who attended.[5]
The hall is famous for an appearance by
Adelaide Town Hall is listed on the Register of the National Estate.[8]
Pipe organ
After the official opening in 1866, a campaign began to obtain a pipe organ for the Auditorium. The city's amateur musicians held two concerts which raised £120 for the Organ Fund, only to see the money used to settle the outstanding account for the Albert Bells instead. In 1869, the Adelaide Philharmonic Society was formed and the choir staged 25 concerts over the next six years to raise over £500 for the Organ Fund. The estimated cost of the organ was £1,200 and the council had promised to contribute £600. In 1875 Council ordered an organ from the London manufacturers, William Hill & Son. As a compromise on the cost, the Council decided to have Hill & Son construct the organ so that it could be added to in later years. The total cost came to £2106.16s.9d. The opening concert was held on 2 October 1877 but it wasn't long before a campaign to enlarge the organ by adding solo stops began and this upgrade was completed in 1885. The hydraulic engine was replaced in 1923 by an electric motor but after frequent criticism that it was out of date, clumsy of operation, and needed complete retuning to international standard pitch,[9] the Council eventually voted to replace the original century-old pipe organ,[10] with a new one manufactured by J.W. Walker and Sons, of Brandon, Suffolk, England, and installed in 1989.[11]
Initially the post of City Organist was an honorary one, with
In art
- A watercolor of the Town Hall painted by the English artist Australian Post Office in 1990.[12]
References
- ^ Sullivan, Christine (2008). "Architect Personal Details: Wright, Edmund William". Architects of South Australia. University of South Australia. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ^ Adelaide Town Hall at Structurae. Retrieved on 2006-12-24.
- ^ ISBN 1-921037-06-7.
- The Adelaide Express. Vol. I, no. 36. South Australia. 13 January 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- Evening Journal. Vol. XXVII, no. 7725. Adelaide. 2 August 1895. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- . Retrieved 2 January 2024.
- ^ "Adelaide Town Hall". Adelaide City Council. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
- ^ The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.5/10
- ^ "Pitch of Town Hall Organ". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 25 April 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 13 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Adelaide Town Hall History". Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- ^ "Adelaide Town Hall History >Town Hall Organ". Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ^ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol. 65, no. 20, 291. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 31 October 1990. p. 5. Retrieved 30 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.