Brunswick Town Hall
Encyclopedia
Brunswick Town Hall is located on the corner of Dawson Street and Sydney Road
Sydney Road, Melbourne
Sydney Road is a major urban arterial in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Geography:...

 in the inner northern Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, suburb of Brunswick
Brunswick, Victoria
Brunswick is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Brunswick was declared a municipality in 1857, after residents petitioned for municipal government. The first municipal chambers were erected in 1859 on Sydney Road at Lobb's Hill, between Stewart and Albion Streets. The present Town Hall is an imposing Victorian building in the Second Empire style, built in 1876.

In 1908 Brunswick became a city.

Diagonally opposite from the Town Hall is the Mechanics' Institute
Mechanics' Institutes
Historically, Mechanics' Institutes were educational establishments formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men...

, built in 1868, and used for education and social activities. A monument to the Free Speech fights of the 1930s stands near the corner. The building was acquired by the Brunswick City Council in 1927 and for many years served as the Brunswick Municipal Library.

During 1973 the Brunswick City Council embarked on a plan to demolish the Town Hall and build a modern five story building to house all of council services. The Brunswick Progress Association
Brunswick Progress Association
The Brunswick Progress Association is a community organisation active in the City of Moreland Council area, and in particular the suburbs of Brunswick and Coburg, inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...

 led a successful public campaign in 1974 against council, to stop the demolition of the town hall.

After the amalgamation of the City of Brunswick with the City of Coburg and the southern portion of the City of Broadmeadows in 1994 to form the City of Moreland
City of Moreland
The City of Moreland is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 10 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....

, the Town Hall now functions as secondary offices for the new Moreland City Council (City of Moreland
City of Moreland
The City of Moreland is a Local Government Area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It comprises the inner northern suburbs between 4 and 10 kilometres from the Melbourne city centre....

).

The Brunswick Town Hall and Atrium is available for hire, and is a venue for the Brunswick Music Festival. The Town Hall building contains the Counihan Gallery and the Brunswick branch of the Moreland City Library.

External links

  • http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/services/brunswicktownhall.htm
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