Hobart City Hall is a public auditorium and concert venue in

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, which together with the

Derwent Entertainment Centre Derwent Entertainment Centre, also known as the DEC and known commercially as MyState Bank Arena, is the largest indoor arena in Tasmania and the multi-purpose arena is the primary venue in Hobart for large indoor functions/events. It was cons ...

forms one of the two major public venues in the city. It is also a commonly used emergency center during disasters such as the

2013 Tasmanian bushfires The 2013 Tasmanian bushfires were a series of bushfires which occurred in south-eastern Tasmania, Australia, between November 2012 and late April 2013. The fires burnt approximately of mixed resident land and native forest. It was predicted ea ...

. Despite its name it is not the City of Hobart's seat of government, which is

Hobart Town Hall Hobart Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building which serves as seat of the City of Hobart local government area, hosting council meetings as well as acting as public auditorium that can be hired from the council. It is also open to periodic ...

– historically a matter of confusion.

History

Prior to the erection of the hall, the area where it stands was reserved for city markets. The building was designed by Raymond ("Rusty") N Butler in association with Flack Ricards and Frank Heyward and the building cost £27,000. The City Hall was completed in 1915, with a formal opening in July. It was reported as being capable of seating 5,000 people when it opened. In 1940, there were attempts to convert the hall to an indoor ice rink, however it was delayed indefinitely after the City Hall was commandeered by the army in 1940 for six months to use for storage. In 1952 it held what was at the time the largest sports carnival ever held in Tasmania, as part of an appeal by the Olympic Council to raise funds for sending Australian athletes to

Helsinki Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Usage

The City Hall has served as a venue for many diverse events, including boxing matches, the 1949 Australian Basketball Championships, silent movie screenings, a ball for

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

and the Duke of Edinburgh, speeches from the Duke of Gloucester, and Miss Tasmania and Miss Australia Grand Finals. Today it also forms part of the network of locations for the Festival of Voices.

Gallery

CG-Hobart-City-Hall from above Feb2015.jpg, City Hall panorama from Campbell Street in 2015

References

{{Hobart landmarks , state=expanded Landmarks in Hobart Buildings and structures in Hobart Tasmanian Heritage Register