Melbourne was officially incorporated as a town on 13 December 1842, with Henry Condell as its first Mayor. However, it wasn't until 1854 that its first Town Hall was completed. Begun in 1851, the work ground to a halt with the beginning of the Victorian gold rush. The foundation stone of a new, grander Town Hall was laid on 29 November 1867 by the visiting Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, after the demolition of the first. The current Town Hall officially opened on 11 August 1870 with a lavish ball, which was personally funded by the Lord Mayor Samuel Amess. The foundation stone of the additional front portico was laid in 1887, and Sir Henry Weedon laid the foundation of the administrative annex building on 27 August 1908. the Melbourne Town Hall acts as venue to a large number of the performances. In 1925, a fire destroyed a large part of the town hall, including the main auditorium and pipe organ. It was rebuilt and enlarged, extending east over the site previously occupied by the Victoria Coffee Palace, an early temperance hotel frequented by Melbourne's power brokers. The rebuilt section lost some of Reed's original flourishes including the elaborate mansard roof. In 1964, The Beatles attended a civic reception at the Melbourne Town Hall. "Outside 20,000 teenagers had gathered to obtain a glimpse of the pop idols. Again, frenzied and hysterical cheering and uncontrollable screaming erupted when the Beatles emerged."
Architecture
The Town Hall was designed by the famous local architect Joseph Reed and Barnes, in the Second Empire style. Reed's designs also included the State Library of Victoria, the Royal Exhibition Building, and Melbourne Trades Hall. The building is topped by Prince Alfred's Tower, named after the Duke. The tower includes a 2.44 m diameter clock, which was started on 31 August 1874, after being presented to the council by the Mayor's son, Vallange Condell. It was built by Smith and Sons of London. The longest of its copper hands measures 1.19 m long, and weighs 8.85 kg.
Organ
The Main Auditorium includes a magnificent concert organ, now comprising 147 ranks and 9,568 pipes. The organ includes a stationary fixed console and a movable console which is connected electronically to the rest of the organ. The Melbourne Town Hall regularly hosts free concerts on the Organ where the likes of Thomas Heywood have performed. ANZCO is a big proponent of this, promoting the organ and organ music amongst younger individuals; having hosted their "All Stops Out" event on this instrument multiple times. The majority of the pipes in this organ are enclosed allowing for tremendous expression of the instrument. The wind pressure varies from 1" all the way up to 25" for the ophicleide and diaphone stops. The organ also features 3 "floating" divisions which can be controlled from each of the 4 manuals.
History of the organ
The organ was originally built by Hill & son in 1872 before a fire destroyed it in 1925. A new organ constructed by Hill Norman & Beard was installed in 1929 and has since then been rebuilt and enlarged by Schantz Organ Company of the United States of America from 1995-2001 at a cost of $4.5 million.
