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I now come to the pleasant task of describing the Melbourne Town Hall, without question a magnificent structure, and an ornament to the city. The building, which has only recently been completed, and opened . with great festivities, was erected by the City Council to serve two great purposes-viz., the proper carrying on of the business of the corporation, and of having a hall in which the citizens might assemble on occasions of Public importance, or for musical festivals, &c. Premiums of £250 for designs were called for, and Messrs. Barnes and Reed obtained the first prize of £200 and Mr John Barry, also of Melbourne, the second prize of £50 for the second host design.
The "building is in the Renaissance style of architecture. It consists of a principal order of Corinthian columns, standing on a high basement, and surmounted by au attic of irregular outline, as shown in the engraving. This hue structure has a frontage to Swanston-street of 180 feet, and to Collins-street 149 feet, thus covering nearly two-thirds of nu acre. The main front to Swanston-street comprises fine architectural divisions, a centre, and two end pavilions and two flanks, the flanks being of three-quarter attached columns, and the pavilions of 1 pilasters, the right-hand pavilion- being carried up, forms a tower of 140 feet in height. The Collins street front is similarly divided, the principal entrance to the great hall being in the centre.
Approaching the interior, the principal entrance of Swanston-street is by a broad, double flight of steps. The present Mayor of Melbourne (Orlando Fenwick, Esq.) and the Town Clerk ( E G Fitzgibbon. Esq ), in the most courteous manner, conducted me over the building, and afforded mc every information. Commencing at the basement, a flight below the entrance, we found the offices of the city surveyor, and rooms for out-door officers' business, a fine fire-proof monument room, where I presume the papers and all valuable documents are kept, and the hydraulic engines (3) supplied by Yan Yean water power for working the grand organ bellows. On the second floor are the Town Clerk's and the City Treasurer's well-arranged offices, the committee rooms, the Great Hall, and the retiring rooms in connection with it.
The Great Hall is worthy of the city. Its dimensions are 175 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 65 feet high. Its loftiness, in perfect keeping with the other proportions, forms one of its grandest features. Galleries are around three sides, and an orchestra on the remaining side forming the front of the recess devoted to the reception of the large organ, now being completed at a cost of £7000. To be more minute: at the northern end of the hall is the organ loft, while a large gallery occupies the southern end: and along the side walls 15 feet from the ground, a small gallery extends the whole length of the hall. In front of the organ loft a stage 3 feet high, and 12 feet in depth is placed, but so arranged that it can be run back some 10 feet under the organ loft, for convenience, when it is not required. The side galleries rest on iron pillars, embedded in stone pediments, and the upper portion of the chamber is ornamented with light columns, and plain but tasteful capitals, above which is a simple but massive cornice.
The roof of the hall is divided into panels, and is decorated in a style between the Arabesque and Pompeian, The ground tone of the panels is a light blue with a border of dark blue and white; with at each corner, a prettily devised of darker hue, intermingled with gold, are exquisitely scroll work. In the centre is an intricate, and elaborately executed design, in which blue and other colours blended, while stars are dotted about in great profusion. The division between the panels are also massive, with ornamental scrolls in the centre. The sides of the divisions are embellished with gold beadings. The hall is lighted by two rows of windows in the roof, protected by filagree work on the inside. The decorations are, on the whole, exceedingly chaste, yet correspond with the magnificent proportions of the hall.
The organ, the largest in Australia, and one of the largest in the world, when complete, will have cost £7000. Its size may be judged from the fact that it is fitted with 4500 pipes. It will be driven by three hydraulic engines supplied with Yan Yean water, giving a power to the bellows equivalent to the work of twelve men. Messrs. Hill and Son, of London, are the builders.
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