Building Sydney Town Hall 2022

Join curator Rebecca Anderson as she takes us through Sydney Town Hall's early construction and recent restoration.

Renowned for its magnificent interiors, Sydney Town Hall is considered to be the largest and most ornate late 19th century civic building in Australia.

Housing the City of Sydney Council Chambers, Office of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Centennial Hall and rooms for meetings, balls, banquets and more, the function of this much loved building has changed little since its final topstone was ceremonially laid on the 10th of April 1889.

Through illustrations from the City of Sydney's Civic Collection and images of the building from the City's Archives, audiences will be taken on a journey through Sydney Town Hall from the ground up.

The story behind why Sydney Town Hall was built on the site of Sydney's first official burial ground and the reasons why the building took over two decades to construct, will be shared along with stories behind the creation and recent restoration of the building's opulent interior spaces.

Bio

Rebecca Anderson is Assistant Curator at the City of Sydney. Working alongside the City's Curator, Margaret Betteridge, Rebecca manages the City of Sydney's Civic Collection which preserves the tangible evidence of the civic history and everyday traditions significant to the history of the City of Sydney and its civic properties, including Sydney Town Hall. Rebecca's fascination with the history of design and architecture, along with her background in design, fine art, history and archaeology, inform her work and she loves sharing the fascinating history of the incredible building that is Sydney Town Hall.

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