Wellington_Town_Hall

Wellington Town Hall

Wellington Town Hall

Concert hall in Wellington, New Zealand

For the town hall in Somerset, see Wellington Town Hall, Somerset.

The Wellington Town Hall (Māori: Te Whare Whakarauika) is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened in December 1904. It has been closed to the public since the 2013 Seddon earthquake for extensive strengthening work, and projected to reopen in January 2025.[1][2]

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History

The Town Hall in 1913 (centre back). Visible is the clock tower which was removed in 1934.
Wellington Town Hall at night (1937)
The Town Hall from Wakefield Street
The interior of the Town Hall

The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later George V).[3] The organist and choirmaster Maughan Barnett composed an Ode for the occasion.[3][4] Construction began the following year. It was officially opened on 7 December 1904.[5]

The Town Hall was originally fronted (on the Cuba Street side) with a Roman styled portico and a 150-foot clock tower. A clock was not installed in the tower until 1922, when John Blundell, owner of The Evening Post newspaper, donated one. In 1934 the tower was removed as a precaution following the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and the main portico, pediment, balustrade, parapet and bold cornice were also removed. The building was earthquake strengthened in 1943 following an earthquake the previous year. During the strengthening the Corinthian capitals on the exterior were replaced with Tuscan detailing.

The Town Hall may have been a low maintenance priority of councils over the years. By 1973 during a concert (Kenny Rogers and The First Edition) their sound levels caused dust to begin to drift down over the stage. When their music hit a crescendo during the chorus of one piece (may have been Something's Burning), the stage ceiling collapsed on them, dropping pigeon bodies, empty and dead eggs, nesting material and plaster rubble and dust all over the stage and the band's equipment. The concert did continue, with black-dressed stage hands creeping around the stage sweeping up detritus, removing carcasses, and dusting the amplifiers, speaker cases, keyboards, and anything else covered with plaster dust.

In 1980 the Michael Fowler Centre was built immediately in front of the Town Hall's main entrance in anticipation of the older building's demolition. However the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (since renamed to Heritage New Zealand) persuaded the City Council to retain the Town Hall. In 1989 plans were unveiled to create Civic Square between the town hall and the old city library. As part of this, the Town Hall underwent full refurbishment in 1991–1992. During this process the concert chamber was demolished and replaced with reception rooms. Although the council offices have spread beyond the Town Hall since 1904, the building still housed the offices of the Mayor and Wellington City Council members until it was closed for earthquake strengthening.

Auditorium

The main auditorium has been rated one of the best in the world for acoustic quality.[6][7] It has hosted numerous live performances (including The Beatles & The Rolling Stones) as well as fashion shows, debutante balls, political rallies, degree conferrals and at least one episcopal ordination, that of Cardinal John Dew in 1995.[8] Recording engineers from Abbey Road Studios, after recording the NZSO in 2012 for the soundtrack of The Hobbit films, described the Town Hall as "one of the best acoustic spaces" they had ever encountered.[9] Wellington-based film makers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh have donated $2 million towards a new state-of-the-art recording facility to be built in the Town Hall, as part of the planned National Music Centre to open in 2026 and incorporate the New Zealand School of Music and the NZSO.[10]

The main auditorium has one of the world's few remaining Edwardian era pipe organs. It was manufactured in England by Norman and Beard and shipped in pieces to Wellington in October and November 1905.[11] After months spent installing the organ in the main auditorium, it was opened on 6 March 1906.[12] The organ has 4000 pipes and four keyboards.[13] The pipes are made variously of pure tin, a mix of lead, tin and aluminium, or zinc.[14] The organ is known for its beautiful sound and was played regularly until being dismantled in 2013 in preparation for earthquake-strengthening work on the Town Hall. The organ was sent to the South Island Organ Company for restoration, and will be reinstalled when the earthquake strengthening work is complete.[15][16]

Earthquake strengthening

Wellington Town Hall renovation, 2020
Base isolation works, 2023

In 2014, quake strengthening was put on hold by Wellington City Council after cost projections increased from $43 million to $60 million due to unforeseen technical issues.[17][18] In March 2017 Wellington City Council announced its intention to bring the Town Hall up to 100% of the New Zealand building regulations at a cost of $85 million, with construction to begin in 2018 and an aim to re-open in 2021.[19] As restoration work began, further complexities were uncovered, and increasing costs meant that in February 2019 the council extended the budget to $112 million, with an undisclosed amount of additional contingency. The extra work required included seismic base isolation to better secure the long term future of the building, while delaying the opening by a further two years.[1] In May 2022 the council announced the opening was further delayed to January 2025, with an increased estimated cost of $182 million.[2] In 2023, the council agreed to a cost increase to $329 million, due to the poor condition and excessive waterlogging of the reclaimed land under the building. This has also affected the adjacent Michael Fowler Centre, which is due to be earthquake strengthened before 2030.[20]

References

  1. [1]
    Desmarais, Felix (27 February 2019). "City council votes to allocate $112.4m to Wellington Town Hall project". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via Stuff.
  2. [2]
    Cornish, Sophie (26 May 2022). "Wellington Town Hall reopening delayed until 2025, with an additional $37m needed". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2 February 2023 – via Stuff.
  3. [3]
    "Wellington Town Hall. Yesterday's Ceremony". Evening Post. 19 June 1901. Retrieved 9 September 2021 – via Papers Past.
  4. [4]
    Ode to be sung at the laying of the foundation stone of the Town Hall, Wellington, by His Royal Highness the Duke of Cornwall and York, June 18th, 1901, New Zealand: Turnbull & Palmer, Printers, 1901, OCLC 156083240, retrieved 9 September 2021
  5. [5]
    "Opening of the Town Hall". The Evening Post. Vol. LXVIII, no. 137. 7 December 1904. p. 6. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via Papers Past.
  6. [6]
    Forbes, Michael (30 May 2016). "Seven years of silence: Wellington Town Hall unlikely to open before 2020". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via Stuff.
  7. [7]
    "Wellington Convention Centre – History of the Town Hall". Archived from the original on 4 February 2004. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
  8. [8]
    Michael O'Meeghan SM, Steadfast in hope: The Story of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington 1850–2000, Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington, Wellington, 2003, pp. 328 and 329.
  9. [9]
    Schwanecke, Gianina (12 August 2023). "Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh gift $2 million towards Wellington's National Music Centre". The Post. Retrieved 20 November 2023 – via Stuff. Abbey Road engineers declared Wellington's old Town Hall to be 'one of the best acoustic spaces' they had ever encountered.
  10. [10]
    Chumko, André (7 March 2022). "Wellington's new music school could be 'Juilliard of the Pacific'". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 20 November 2023 – via Stuff.
  11. [11]
    "Local and General". Evening Post. 7 October 1905. Retrieved 11 October 2021 – via Paperspast.
  12. [12]
    "Town Hall Organ: The Opening Recital". New Zealand Times. 7 March 1906. Retrieved 11 October 2021 – via Paperspast.
  13. [13]
    "History of the Concert Organ". Wellington City Council. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  14. [14]
    "Town Hall Organ: Something About the Great Instrument". New Zealand Times. 18 October 1905. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Restoring the Concert Organ". Wellington City Council. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  16. [16]
    Ashby-Coventry, Esther (3 June 2016). "Wellington Town Hall organ will be in storage until 2020". Stuff. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  17. [17]
    Chapman, Katie (13 June 2013). "Town Hall to be strengthened". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via Stuff.
  18. [18]
    Burgess, Dave (14 February 2014). "Wellington's $60 million question". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 16 September 2019 – via Stuff.
  19. [19]
    "Improved plan will see Wellington's Town Hall reopened". Wellington City Council. 30 March 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  20. [20]
    Gourley, Erin (26 October 2023). "Go-ahead for $329 million Town Hall but council wants to avoid a repeat". The Post. Stuff. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

Sources
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