Marrickville Town Hall


The Marrickville Town Hall is a heritage-listed former town hall for the now abolished Marrickville Council. The town hall is located at 96-106 Marrickville Road,, an inner western suburb of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

History

The town hall in Illawarra Road was opened in 1879. A second storey addition was later added, together with a portico and steps with a lion couchant on either side. It was replaced by a new town hall at 303 Marrickville Road in 1922, and was then purchased by the Department of Education. It was part of Marrickville Public School until 1985. In 1988 the school site was purchased by the Department of Housing and subdivided. The land adjoining the town hall being developed for pensioner housing.

Nike sculptures

Winged Victory, a sculpture of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, was unveiled outside the town hall in 1919 before a crowd of approximately 15,000. The sculpture was commissioned to represent a memorial to the 450 residents whose lives were lost in combat during World War I. Over the years the sculpture deteriorated and it was removed in 2009. In April 2015 a modern, more peaceful interpretation, being a bronze statute of Nike was unveiled.

Heritage listing

The building is the oldest civil building in Marrickville and the fourth oldest Town Hall in Sydney. It is important for its association with the development and rise of local government in Sydney. It provides an important physical record of the early history of the municipality from its origins as a small village. It demonstrates the early pattern of Australian local politics. Completed 1879 the 2nd storey extension of 1883 incorporated the existing building into a landmark of great aesthetic value.
Marrickville Town Hall was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Attribution