Waterloo Town Hall, Sydney
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The Waterloo Town Hall is a
heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
located in
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...
, a suburb of
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
, Australia. Located at 770 Elizabeth Street, it was built in 1880–82 in the
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
Italianate architectural style with Second Empire elements by John Smedley, Edward Hughes and Ambrose Thornley. The town hall was the seat of Waterloo Municipal Council from 1882 to 1948 and since 1972 has been the Waterloo Library, a branch of the City of Sydney Library (and formerly South Sydney Library) servicing Waterloo and
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
.


History and description

When the Municipality of Waterloo was proclaimed in May 1860, the council first met in a room on Botany Road. However, when the Alexandria part of the council area separated and formed their own municipality in August 1868, the council met in a room in Wellington Street, Waterloo, until they commissioned the new Town Hall in 1880. In 1880 the council leased a block of land in Elizabeth Street for the town hall, and was obtained from the Cooper family at a rental of £10 per annum. The council continued to pay this rental until 1912, when Sir William Cooper, 3rd Baronet, gave the council the freehold title to the land. The Town Hall was commissioned to a Victorian-Italianate with Second Empire influences design by Architect Edward Hughes, with construction supervised by Ambrose Thornton Jnr and John Smedley, of the firm Thornley & Smedley. However the construction of the Hall, undertaken by builders Bretnall & Poulton, went through several cost blow-outs, delays and enlargements, with a final cost of £3500 (from an original cost of £2600) with a £370 annual cost in interest payments. Waterloo Municipal Council first met in the hall on 19 August 1882. In 1915 a 'Social Hall' was commissioned and built to the rear of the existing hall, and it was unveiled by Mayor Dunning on 24 February 1915 During the Second World War an
air-raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...
was built in the town hall, and is one of the few surviving examples left in Sydney. On 21 April 1941, William McKell, Leader of the NSW Opposition and the local MP for Redfern, gave a policy speech launching his campaign for the 1941 state election at the town hall. In February 1946, Mckell announced his intention to retire as Premier and from politics at the town hall.


Later history

Following the amalgamation of Waterloo into the City of Sydney in 1949, the hall continued its use as a social venue and community centre and was transferred to the South Sydney Municipality in 1967 following a boundary change. In 1972, the South Sydney Council made the town hall a library, which was then transferred to be a branch of the City of Sydney Libraries upon reamalgamation in 1982 and 2004. On 26 July 1990 a bronze plaque, created by sculptor
Victor Cusack The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
, was unveiled at Waterloo Town Hall by Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, to commemorate the relationship between Waterloo's naming with the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
in 1815. It is the earliest conflict commemorated in Sydney. In 1996 the Town Hall was substantially refurbished by Architects Stephenson and Turner, through the NSW Government State Library's Grant Program and South Sydney Council. A plaque to commemorate the completion of these works was unveiled by the Mayor of South Sydney Council, Vic Smith on 28 June 1997.


Heritage listing and conservation

The Town Hall, along with the Air-Raid shelter at the rear, is listed under the 2012 Sydney Local Environment Plan as "evidence of the former Municipality of Waterloo and as an important local landmark of over 125 years standing ..The Town Hall is the most readily identifiable symbol of what was once an area with a fiercely independent local identity." The listing also noted that a substantial number of original internal fittings survive: "The only substantial loss to have occurred is the removal of the cast iron ornamented verandah that once graced the Elizabeth Street elevation. The loss of this verandah, while an important element of this particular building, has had only a minor impact on the understanding that the building provides of the Italianate Style. The Town Hall retains a high percentage of original fabric." The 2003 Waterloo Heritage Conservation Area plan has recommended the reinstatement of the original verandahs and iron railings and fencing that were lost.


Gallery

File:Waterloo Town Hall c. 1900.jpg, Waterloo Town Hall , showing the original ironwork verandahs and fencing File:1 Former Waterloo Town Hall.JPG, Waterloo Town Hall, pictured in 2011


See also

* List of town halls in Sydney * Architecture of Sydney


References


External links


Waterloo Library
– City of Sydney {{Town halls in Sydney Government buildings completed in 1882 Town halls in Sydney Italianate architecture in Sydney 1882 establishments in Australia Libraries in Sydney Waterloo, New South Wales New South Wales Heritage Database