Old City Hall, which existed from 1869 to 1933, was the first public multipurpose performance facility and cultural venue in the

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

of Hong Kong. It housed a theatre, a library, a museum and assembly rooms. Despite its name, its function differed from a

town 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 ...

in that it was used solely for community purposes and did not house any government offices. Located on

Queen's Road Central Queen's Road is a collection of roads along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong, within the limit of Victoria, Hong Kong, Victoria City. It was the first road in Hong Kong, constructed History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s), by ...

Victoria, Hong Kong The City of Victoria, (, or ) often called Victoria City or simply Victoria (), was the ''de facto'' capital of Hong Kong during British Hong Kong, its time as a British dependent territory. It was initially named Queenstown but was soon know ...

, it occupied the current sites of the

HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building HSBC Main Building is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location o ...

(partly) and the Bank of China Building.EIA: A survey report of Historical Buildings and Structures within the Project Area of the Central Reclamation Phase III
Chan Sui San Peter for the HK Government, February 2001 It was designed by the French architect

Achille-Antoine Hermitte Achille Antoine Hermitte (24 June 1840–) was a French architect who is known for designing the Hong Kong City Hall and the Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). His life is not well-documented and there is uncertainty about the date ...

and was opened by Prince

Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was sovereign Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 22 August 1893 until his death in 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duk ...

, in a ceremony on 28 June 1869. The current site of the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building was occupied in part by the old City Hall, and in part by the first and second generations of the HSBC building.

Design and function

The City Hall was built on

Crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

, and funds were raised for its construction, which started in 1866, from public subscriptions. The two-storey hall was designed by M^e French architect

in a

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, with cupolae, colonnades and arches. The facilities available for use by the local community included a theatre, library, museum and assembly rooms. A fountain - Dent's Fountain, sponsored by Dent & Co., was located at the front (south side) of the Hall. The building was inaugurated by HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh on 2 November 1869 on his visit to the colony. The land was acquired by the Hong Kong Bank in 1933 for its third generation headquarters, so that the western part of City Hall was pulled down. The remaining part was demolished in 1947 to make way for the Bank of China Building.

Theatre

The Hall housed the Theatre Royal, a 569 seats performance space which hosted a number of amateur and professional theatre performances for residents of the colony. The theatre was renovated in 1903 to improve the function and acoustics.

References

{{coord missing, Hong Kong Demolished buildings and structures in Hong Kong Buildings and structures demolished in 1947 Former seats of local government

Design and function

Theatre

See also

References