The (, ''

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

'') is a municipal building in

Saint-Paul, Réunion Saint-Paul () is the second-largest commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the extreme west side of the island of Réunion. History Saint-Paul was the capital of the island from its settlement in the early 16t ...

, in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, standing on Place Général de Gaulle.

History

Saint-Paul was the earliest part of the island to develop as an urban centre and served as its capital from the early 16th century, until Saint-Denis became the capital in 1738. However, the current building was commissioned not as a municipal building but as a coffee store. Following the destruction of the island's

timber-framed Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

coffee store in a serious fire in July 1723, the

French Indies Company The French Indies Company () was the main French overseas trading company during most of Louis XV's long reign in the 18th century. It emerged in March 1723 from the reorganization of John Law's Company following the termination of John Law's g ...

decided to commission a new coffee store of stone construction. Construction of the new store started in 1735. It was designed by Édouard Robert, built in

rubble masonry Rubble masonry or rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Some medieval cathedral walls have outer shells of ashlar wi ...

with a

cement render Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, (optionally lime) and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on ...

and was completed in 1740. The design involved a rectangular building, oriented in a position which was perpendicular to the sea. It had a flat roof made of "argamasse", a type of mortar developed by the French East India Company by mixing sand, crushed brick, lime, egg whites, curdled milk and fats, so that the roof could be used for drying coffee beans. In 1766, the building was requisitioned by the French Government, converted for use as infantry barracks, and given a pitched roof. An ammunition depot attached to the barracks was later relocated to another site. In 1888, the town council, which had previously operated without a dedicated town hall, decided to use the building as its regular meeting place. The area in front of the building was improved when Jean Milhet de Fontarabie, who had served as mayor of Saint-Paul from 1872 to 1884, decided to pay for a fountain. The design of the fountain involved four waterspouts, and a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

column supporting a vase shaped top. The use of the building for municipal purposes was regularised in 1916, when the town council acquired the building from the French Government for FFr 10,000. Essential repairs were carried out after a cyclone caused serious damage to some 60% of all buildings on the island, including the town hall, in 1948. More significant alterations were carried out to give the building a more municipal look in 1952. The new design involved a symmetrical main frontage of 11 bays facing northeast towards a small square. The alterations included removal of the pitched roof, the installation of fins at the four corners of the new flat roof, the creation of a balcony above the main doorway and the addition of a central

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

with a clock. Internally, a Salle du Conseil (council chamber) was established and a series of small offices created.

References

{{reflist Government buildings completed in 1740 City and town halls in France 1740 establishments in France