Wellington, New Zealand
Posted by: denben
S 41° 17.366 E 174° 46.664
60G E 313917 N 5426730
Wellington Town Hall is located in the heart of the City Business District, next to Civic Square and the Michael Fowler Centre.
Waymark Code: WMN7PH
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 01/13/2015
Views: 7
Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 412,500 residents. It is at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the major population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region, which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa. It is the world's windiest city, with an average wind speed of over 26 km/h, and the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state.
Built in 1904, Wellington Town Hall and Concert Hall was designed in the neo-renaissance style by Joshua Charlesworth. It is listed on heritage New Zealand Register since December 2003.
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. Shortly after, Wellington citizens began to call for an improved concert venue. In 1980 the Michael Fowler Centre (concert hall) was built immediately in front of the Town Hall's main entrance.
Although the council offices have spread beyond the Town Hall since 1904, the building still houses the offices of the Mayor and Wellington City Council members.
In 2014, quake strengthening was put on hold by the Wellington City Council, after cost projections increased from $43 million to $60 million due to unforeseen technical issues.
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