The Newcastle City Hall is a heritage-listed building located in the regional New South Wales city of Newcastle in the Hunter region in Australia. The building served as the city hall for the Council of the City of Newcastle between 1929 and 1977.
The building, located at 289 King Street, was designed by noted theatre architect Henry Eli White and the foundation stone was laid by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley de Chair, on 20 April 1928. The three-storey building structure is based on a steel frame that supports concrete floors and stone cladding. Local materials were used as much as possible, including steel provided at a discount by local steelmaker, BHP. Architectural features include a clock tower, porte cochere, balustrades and stairs, all built with Sydney sandstone. The clock tower is an imposing landmark and distinctive feature of the city skyline, indicating the Civic Centre of Newcastle. The tower is a reinforced concrete and steel framed structure clad in Sydney yellowblock sandstone ashlar with rusticated quoins. Interior spaces include a ballroom, concert hall and additional function rooms.
The administrative offices of the city hall were relocated to the new Civic Administration Centre in 1977, though the council chambers remain. The clock tower suffered some damage as a result of the 1989 Newcastle earthquake, however this was subsequently repaired.
Together with the Newcastle Civic Theatre, each site is, individually, of state heritage significance, and they are listed jointly on the New South Wales State Heritage Register as the Newcastle City Hall and Civic Theatre Precinct.
History Local Government began in Newcastle in 1843 with the Newcastle District Council. This body, however, was not embraced by locals and Councillors were often appointed by the Government as no nominations had been received. When the Municipalities Act was passed in 1858, there was considerably more interest, with a large number of locals signing the petition to form the Municipality of Newcastle. Meetings of the council were initially held at the Court House on the corner of Hunter and Bolton Streets. The town's first Mayor was James Hannell. At this time the Newcastle Municipality encompassed only the central Newcastle area, with a number of the surrounding satellite communities, including Hamilton, Lambton, Waratah and others, which are now part of Newcastle Local Government Area, becoming separate municipalities over the following decades.Conservation Management Plan, p. 18
The meetings of Newcastle Council continued to be conducted in the Court House, and Council business was undertaken in a small room in the Borough Markets. In 1874 these two functions were brought together under one roof, in the convict built former Commissioner Store in Watt Street, which had served as Post Office until 1872. A decade later a purpose-built Council Chambers was erected on the same site in front of the Commissioner Store building, which was used as a store until demolition in 1923. It was designed by the City Engineer, John Sharp, and contained a meeting hall and offices for the Mayor and Town Clerk, on the ground floor, and further offices on the first floor.
The Council Chambers in Watt Street quickly proved to be inadequate, both in terms of space, and, it would seem, local aspirations. Only four years after it was built the first moves were made towards the construction of a Town Hall. In 1890 a design competition was held for a Town Hall and civic shopping arcade on Hunter Street. The competition was won by eminent local architect Frederick Menkens. However, the project did not proceed, partly due to Council's inability to raise the required funds. Over the following three-and-a-half decades a long series of plans failed to materialise. The need for new premises was intensified following the 1919 Local Government Act, which increased the powers of local government. The existing Council Chambers was extended, but Council staff were still scattered through four separate buildings in Watt Street due to lack of space. At the same time, Newcastle's growing population placed further pressure on the inadequate facilities for public meetings. By 1921 the population of the Newcastle area reached 84,372, an increase of 30,000 across the previous decade.Conservation Management Plan, pp. 19-20
In January 1920 a referendum of rate payers was held to gauge community support for raising a loan to purchase a suitable site for the construction of a Town Hall. 682 people voted and supported the move by a large majority. The next hurdle was to find a suitable site. After the acquisition of a site owned by John Brown in Hunter Street was thwarted, the community was again involved in a September referendum to decide whether the Town Hall should be constructed in the east or west end of town (either side of Burwood Street). Considerably fewer votes were cast, and an east end location was favoured by a small majority. After the decision to purchase land bound by Hunter, Darby, King and Burwood Streets for a Town Hall based on Menkens' design, yet another attempt was abandoned due to the cost of resumption and compensation of existing businesses. This issue of a Town Hall was again postponed.Conservation Management Plan, pp. 20-21
The election of Morris Light as Mayor of Newcastle in 1924 was a turning point. He was a man of vision and determination who had served on Newcastle and Carrington Councils for 35 years. In February 1925 Light began the final, successful scheme to build a Town Hall for Newcastle, recognising that the city had long ago outgrown the existing Council Chambers. In June 1925 the report produced by the specially appointed Town Hall Special Committee for the construction of a Town Hall, theatre and business premises on the present, central site was adopted. The appointment of Mr Henry Eli White as architect and the taking of a 175,000-pound loan were approved. Although Light died before the completion of the project, he is widely recognised as the man who made it happen, a pair of memorial light standards at the main entrance to the Town Hall commemorates his contribution.
It was after lengthy debate that Council commissioned Henry Eli White for the design. Council was anxious to engage an architect with experience in theatre design. White had developed a passion for theatre design in 1907, and his 3 essentials were vision lines, acoustics and ventilation. The reputation that drew White to the attention of Council aldermen was firmly established by 1915. He was one of the most successful theatre architects in the country, having designed or redesigned a number of theatres in New Zealand and Australia by the mid 1920s, such as the Tivoli Brisbane and the Theatre Royal, Sydney. Although his main focus was on theatres White had also designed a variety of other prominent commercial and industrial buildings including the Bunnerong Powerhouse, a contract won in 1925. In August 1925 White submitted the Town Hall plans which were placed on public display in the Hunter Street window of Scott's Store. Plans for the Theatre and shops were presented soon after.Conservation Management Plan, p. 24
In 1926 there was community debate over the inclusion of a large theatre in the commission. One of the more vocal opponents was the manager of the Victoria Theatre. Through the local press, an unceasing opposition campaign was conducted against the construction of a new theatre in Newcastle. Consequently, a poll of ratepayers occurred in 1926 at which voters were asked to indicate their preference for a town hall, theatre and shops or a town hall only. A majority were in support of the proposal to include the theatre in the design and a successful application under the Local Government Act to raise two hundred thousand pounds led to the resumption of land.Conservation Management Plan, pp. 26-7
The design of the town hall and theatre/shops complex was let as a single contract, but separate tenders were called for the construction of the two buildings. The successful tenderer was the firm of Charles Davis and Son, which submitted the lowest tender of 82,927 pounds. Among the firm's larger contracts were the AMP block, remodelling of the council's market street buildings, the Commercial Bank, and several hotels including the Crown and Anchor. His domestic work included Braeside at Waratah, designed by Frederick Menkens.Conservation Management Plan, pp. 27-8
In July 1927, the Council resumed just over 2 acres of land for the civic complex, including a site owned by John Brown. Included in the resumption were 10 lots in Section A of the original 2000-acre grant to the Australian Agricultural Company. Newcastle City Hall still stands on Lots 10, 11, and 12 of these portions, while Christie Place occupies Lots 13 and 14 with Wheeler Place occupying lot 9. The firm of Archibald Rodgers previously occupied the site. The firm was established in Carrington in 1854. In 1870 the name was changed to Rodgers Bros. and the business moved to King Street on which City Hall now stands. The land was swampy and required six feet of fill to prepare it for the new engineering works including a blacksmiths' shop, fitting and machine shop and a moulding shop. Following resumption by Council in 1927, the buildings were auctioned or demolished. Part of the site now containing Nesca House was retained by Rodgers Bros. This land was resumed in 1936 for the construction of Nesca House.Conservation Management Plan, p. 23
In November 1927, Council decided to change the external cladding material from brick and cement to freestone. This was first noted in the Council minutes in November 1927. Within three weeks the decision had been made, and the building was to be faced with 30,000 super feet of stone from Waverley in Sydney, increasing the cost of the project by 26,480 pounds. The work was suspended until government approval was granted for an additional loan of 81,000 pounds to cover the cost of the stone and increased land acquisition costs. The loan was finally repaid in 1960. Given the history of community consultation on significant issues relating to the Town Hall proposal, it can only be assumed that Council did not invite further delay of the project at this stage. There is no evidence of opposition from the community.Conservation Management Plan, p. 28
Pouring the foundations of Cockle Creek concrete reinforced with BHP steel began on 7 March 1928. Seven tons of steel were used in one area at the base of the tower. Existing overhead high-tension mains in the vicinity of the site were put underground to allow an unimpeded view of the Town Hall, and a substation constructed to the west of the building. The foundation stone was laid on 20 April 1928, by the Governor Sir Dudley de Chair, who travelled by train to Newcastle. He described the people of Newcastle as industrious and enterprising and declared the Town Hall "one of the noblest structures of the kind which has been erected in the State". He then laid the foundation stone of polished trachyte.Conservation Management Plan, p. 29
As a general policy in construction of the Town hall, the Council preferred to use local materials, suppliers and contractors. British steel had been specified but steps were taken to substitute BHP steel. BHP steel was more expensive than the specified imported product, and Council approached the BHP to bear half the costs of the steel, which they accepted, reducing the cost of the steel by 250 pounds.Conservation Management Plan, p. 30