Pretoria City Hall

The City Hall in 1988

Close-up view of the portico

Pretoria City Hall is a large building in

History

In 1926 a competition was held to design the future city hall of Pretoria and the winning design was by F.G. McIntosh. Due to the economic difficulties of the then South African Republic, construction of the City Hall started in 1931 and was completed in 1935.^[3]

The Hall was completed in the Semi-Italian classical style and a George Heys, the former owner of Melrose House donated the 32 tower bells found in the hall today.^[4]

Pretorius Square

The Pretorius Square lies in front of the building including fountains and maintained gardens. Three statues of significant figures decorate the park;

• Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, the founder of Pretoria who named the city in honour of his father in 1855.
• Voortrekker
  leader who led the push to settle the North of the country and for who the city is named.
• Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality
  , under which Pretoria falls was named for this local Chieftain.

Contemporary use

The hall used to serve as a venue for concerts and organized events including weddings. The main auditorium has a large stage and was used for classical music concerts and many other social events. But since 2016, it has been closed to the general use of the public. It seems that the current council has no intention of opening it up to the public ever again.^[5]

Future use

TBA

References

External links

• Media related to Pretoria City Hall at Wikimedia Commons

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