| Historical notes: | Manly Police Station was built in 1924-1925 to design og Government Architect George McRae (SMH 22 October 1922, Tenders called). Manly Town Hall was designed in 1936 by architect Reginald Maisey of Trenchard Smith and Maisey, built in 1937 and opened by Premier Stevens on 6 November 1937 (SMH 9 November 1937).
From circa 1884 to around 1909 Manly Council occupied the former Ivanhoe Hotel erected within Ivanhoe Park. This location is shown on the 1890 Waterboard block plan. By 1908 the current site of the Council Chambers was purchased by Manly Council, other land owned by Council having been sold to finance the purchase. On the site stood a large, two-storey Victorian house, Llangollen (or Llangollan) that had been constructed around 1878 by William Howard Rolfe. The Rolfes had previously lived at Woodburne at the Manly Lagoon but had sold the substantial property in April 1878 (SMH 18 April 1878). The Rolfes did not live to enjoy their new house. William died in 1879 followed by his widow Bertha in 1880. The architect of Llangollen has not yet been identified.
Llangollen, described as “a desirable property close to the pier and replete with every possible convenience” was advertised as being to let in March 1880 (SMH 20 March 1880). In 1881 Llangollen was sold to a solicitor, C.A. Laurence. E A Laurence lived at Llangollen as a child and he achieved some notoriety as the little boy from Manly who offered his savings for the Patriotic fund. The Little Boy from Manly was later immortalised in cartoons by Livingston Hopkins. In around 1885-86 Laurence sold the building to the Australian Joint Stock Bank. A description of the house was contained in the sale notice:
FAMILY RESIDENCE. Llangollen, containing drawing-room, dining-room, breakfast-room, stone verandah, conservatory, hall, kitchen, laundry, larder, pantry, cellar, three servants rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, salt and fresh water, hall, linen press, balcony : large asphalted yard, lawns, fernery and garden. The buildings are very substantial, and fitted and finished in a superior manner. Land has a frontage to three streets. Title, Torrrens. (SMH 1 April 1885)
In 1903-05 plans for a new town hall were underway however public outcry at the proposal to build on the reserve saw this scheme eventually abandoned.
A special meeting of the Manly Council was held, to consider a minute by the Mayor (Alderman Bonner), relative to the building of a Town Hall Alderman Ogilvy presided, owing to the Mayor's illness. The minute stated that Manly must have a proper building in which to transact the business of the municipality. The sub-committee appointed to go into the matter came to the conclusion that the –ratepayers should consider the subject. It was decided to have a referendum, also that a public meeting be held, so that the aldermen may address the ratepayers on the matter. There are several sites suggested, and opinion at Manly is divided as to which will be the best, whether in the Corso, or adjacent to the post office. (Evening News 8 June 1908).
A location at the Corso was selected. The opening of the council chambers in the former Australian Joint Stock Bank Premises in Manly took place on 13 February 1909. (Evening News 15 Feb 1909). The mayor Alderman Bonner hosted a dinner and presented the Aldermen with souvenir pendants (Australian Star 16 Feb 1909). No records of substantial alterations have been located. The Bank is reputed to have sold the building and site to Manly Council for approximately £5,000. The old council chambers in Ivanhoe Park were utilised as the Police Court.
The Manly Council has under consideration a proposal to close and divert a portion of Gilbert-street, with the object of securing a space upon which to build a new Town Hall. Those people who have visited Manly are familiar with a small triangular reserve which fronts the Corso just near the ferry wharf. The reserve is only about a quarter of an acre in extent, and a street runs behind it. The council proposes to close this street, and build the Town Hall upon it, and to take a portion of the triangular reserve for the new street. This would reduce the area of the reserve by about one-half, and make Gilbert-street crooked instead of straight, but it would greatly improve the available site for the new municipal buildings. (Evening News 16 July 1910).
In the Sands Directory for 1912 the Town Hall was still listed in Gilbert Street. Postcards of the Manly Town hall held in the Local Studies Collection show that the made at the corner of Whislter Street, which was designed to match the bay window of the existing house. The Manly Daily noted 16 February 1918, “A room was to be erected very shortly for the Mayor, and also one for the aldermen and one for the Town Clerk.” The Mayoral Report for 1918 noted: “The matter of better office accommodation was dealt with in the early part of the year, and a contract was let for increasing the size of the office. The cost of same was in the vicinity of £700, and the additions were carried out in a satisfactory manner. This long-felt want has been greatly appreciated both by the staff and the general public.” (Manly Daily 5 March 1919 extracting Mayoral Report of 25 February 1919)
The Manly Electric Supply company was a separate company with premises on Whistler Street at Raglan Street. An Ambulance Station was established in Whistler Street near the Town Hall.
Following World War 1 arguments arose over the proposed building of a purpose-designed town hall.
In 1920 it was reported that The works committee having inspected the plans of the proposed new Town Hall for Manly, to be erected on the triangular reserve on the Corso, it was decided to call a meeting of the ratepayers to confirm or reject its erection. (Evening News 6 July 1920).
and
Manly's Civil Strides. NOVEL TOWN HALL SCHEME.
The scheme by which Manly will secure a new town hall is novel, any the Mayor, Alderman Reid, M.L.A., believes this is the first time such a method has been adopted for the erection of a public building in Australia. The hall, it is expected, will be completed within the next 18 months; the building will consist of two storeys facing the harbor, and the ground floor will be occupied by a pictures show and several shops, while a main front entrance will lead to the upper floor, where a public hall capable of seating from 400 to 500 persons, and the municipal offices will be located. The council will borrow £40.000, and erect the buildings, after which Mr. W Berry, with whom the council has completed an agreement, will be granted a Iease at the rate of about £5000 a year for 30 years; this sum will wipe off both the principal and interest on the cost of the hall in 30 years, at the end of which time the whole building will become the property of the council clear of debt; the lessee is also to pay rates and taxes while the council is to have the public, hall on the upper floor and the municipal offices free during the 30 years; the leasee will have the picture show and shops from these he will derive his return. At the end of the 30 years the revenue from the picture show and shops will go to the council. Mr. Berry has paid a deposit of £500.
Manly Council’s proposal to erect a new town hall met with opposition from the NSW Institute of Architects.
The President visited Manly with the President of the Town Planning Association, and represented to the Mayor that to erect a so-called Town Hall which would encroach upon the existing reserve would be most undesirable. The Mayor, however, could not be convinced, but the exertions of members of this Institute, and specially those of Mr. A. W- Anderson (Chairman of its Town Planning and Housing Committee), have achieved some success, because a referendum of the rate payers of Manly was held on Saturday, February 26 with the result that the proposal was rejected by a substantial majority. (21 March C&LEJ 1921)
The design and the proposal to erect shops also met with criticism. The 1920 scheme designed by the local architect Harold Mead did not proceed. The design was published in December 1920, with the caption “design for a proposed town hall at Manly which has given rise to much controversy and some recriminations locally”. (Evening News 20 Dec 1920).
The Manly Town Hall Proposition
It is a matter for congratulation that the ratepayers of Manly have effectively scotched the crude financial scheme which infatuated the Manly Aldermanic minds, to spend 40,000 on a building purporting to fulfil the function of a Town Hall. If Manly, as a municipality, is prepared to accept a multum-in-parvo for its civic buildings, the matter of the design need on being a spectacular suburb of popular resort, hence it is surely due to the ratepayers to have a town hall which should at once fulfil the functions of civic government and present an imposing front to the thousands of people who enjoy their visitations to this popular marine suburb. In the design which has been suggested, the essential elements are a row of useful shops, surmounted by an apparent upper storey dwarfed by a huge blank wall above, suggestive of a gaol enclosure. Certainly some attempt has been made to dignify the angular corner facing the wharf in a classical facade, but the design is neither happy nor effective as a piece of architecture. Whilst one cannot al together blame the architect, it is certain that something better in external appearance might have been evolved; even with the absurd, and drastic conditions : laid down with regard to the internal planning. The most noticeable and entirely wrong feature of this planning is the perching of civic offices on the upper floor above the shops, thereby subordinating the essential purpose of the building to the principal of obtaining as much rent as possible; the approaches to this upper floor are faulty and the whole dignity of Council Government destroyed and the convenience of the ratepayers sacrificed. (CLEJ 7 March 1921)
The Alderman and architect Lindsay Thompson criticised the Mead’s plans and the Council did not wish to pay his claim for fees. The council settled out of court. Mead obtained few commissions after the publicity surrounding this case. In the mid 1920s a second competition was held, which was won by Fowell & McConnell in association with Hodges & Watts. Once again a ratepayer referendum rejected the proposal to build new facilities. The proposed design published March and June 1928 (Building 12 March 1928 & C&LGJ 27 June 1928).
MANLY TOWN HALL Scheme Rejected
After much argument among aldermen of the Manly Council, the ratepayers of that municipality, in no uncertain terms, have dictated their wishes in regard to the construction of a new Town Hall at a cost of £60,000, by rejecting' the scheme submitted to them by referendum on Saturday last by a vote of 1198 to 276. It will be remembered that at the beginning of the year a competition was held for the design of the Town Hall, and was won by Architects Fowell and McConnel, bracketed with Architects Hodges and Watts. These two firms were asked to collaborate with a view to submitting an amended design, but it does not appear likely, in view of the decision of the ratepayer's, that their scheme' will ever be realised. (C&LEJ28 June 1928)
In the interim council began to erect facilities to cater for its expanding role. In 1929 Manly Council erected new showroom and office premises for the Electricity Department to the rear of their site. This building, which was later incorporated into the town hall complex, was designed by the architectural firm, Trenchard Smith and Maisey (SMH 10 Dec 1929). Trenchard Smith & Maisey had also designed the extensions to the Warringah Shire Hall in 1928 which was designed in a similar architectural style (demolished in 1978). The Council’s Electrical Engineer Mr A. J. Bradshaw was also involved with the design. The council had taken over the supply of electricity from the Manly Electric Light Company in 1921 (SMH 17 Nov 1930). The new showroom had opened by November 1930.
The new electricity showrooms and offices built for the Manly Municipal Council have just been completed from a design by Messrs. Trenchard Smith and Maisey, architects, and as shown In our illustration will prove an acquisition to the district. The site adjoins the Town Hall, from which there is an entrance to the new building. The building contains main showroom, Cashier’s department demonstration room, display bathroom, store rooms, garages, and lavatories on the ground floor with entrances both from Belgrave street and Whistler-street
The accommodation on the first floor consists of general offices for staff separate offices for chief engineer assistant engineer accountant, typists and draftsmen with first-class lavatory accommodation and a luncheon room for the staff. The building is of two storeys in brick and cement with floors of reinforced concrete covered with parquetry and battle-ship linoleum, and roof of tiles. The staircase is of terrazzo The joinery of the showroom is of Queensland maple (French polished) Otherwise selected oregon finished in carriage varnish has been used. The show windows are of handsome design very heavily moulded in metal work and finished in old gold while the metal awning is finished in Florentine bronze. The design Is in the classic style-is delightfully simple in line and detail and its proportions are excellent The builder was Mr. E. Hewson, of Manly. (SMH 23 Dec 1930)
After much discussion and controversy tenders were let in 1937 for the construction of the new Council Chambers. The construction of the building necessitated the demolition of the old Council Chambers building but the electricity department at the north end of the site was retained and incorporated into the design of the new building. The foundation stone was laid on 12 June 1937 and the building was officially opened on 6 November 1937 at a total cost, including furnishings, of £16,000. The new building was erected by Stuart Brothers and was designed by the architects and Manly residents Messers Trenchard Smith & Maisey who had designed the Electricity Department. The partner in charge was S R Maisey (Fred Trenchard Smith had retired in 1932). S R Maisey had been working for Trenchard Smith since at least 1911, becoming a partner in 1928. He served during World War 1. Having been on active service for three years, Sergeant Maisey remained in London under the Scheme that permitted architects trained in the colonies to attend a short course at the University of London and sit their RIBA examinations.
A perspective sketch appeared in Building.
We illustrate a perspective sketch of the new Town Hall & Council Chambers that are being erected on the site of the old Manly Town Hall. The palm trees, which have been a distinctive feature of the site for many years are being retained. (Building, 24 June 1937)
The newly completed town hall received considerable press coverage in late 1937.
The site occupied by the Manly Town Hall (the new building is erected on the site of the old structure is an excellent one, being at the corner of the Corso and bounded by two streets, a small park occupying the curved area in front of it and allowing the facade to be fully appreciated. The palms, which have for many years been a feature of this area, have wisely been retained and their slender shafts harmonise with the columns of the portico, as do also the four new lamps with their elegant standards. The building relies for its appeal upon excellent proportions, whilst a classic feeling is engendered not only by the portico, but also by other detail. The foundation stone was supplied by the [firm of] Loveridge and Hudson, the cast stone column caps by T. Grounds and Son and the roof tiles by Wunderlich Ltd (C&REJ 29 December 1937).
The palm trees no longer survive. The Sydney Morning Herald described the new town hall as:
“The new administrative office for the Manly Council, for which the foundation stone was laid by the Mayor (Alderman Nolan) on Saturday, will be a noticeable addition to the architecture of the suburb. Two-storeys in height, the front, designed after the colonial style, is impressive. Four pillars, rising to parapet height, flank the main entrance. The rest of the exterior maintains the same imposing appearance. Internal arrangements are according to modern ideas, especially for the council chambers and offices for the executive staff. The former will be equipped with the latest lighting and ventilation systems.” (SMH 15 June 1937)
…The electricity department building, erected some time ago, has been remodelled to conform with the design of the new offices, and the whole now forms a complete, block. The council chamber, on the first floor, is large, and each alderman will have a separate table…(SMH 9 November 1937)
A series of photographs of the interior and exterior of the building was taken by Sam Hood in 1937. The views include the Council Chamber and the reception counter. (Home & Away series starting at 8809). A view and description of the Council Chamber appeared in the Construction & Real Estate Journal (C&REJ) in December in December 1937 along with some of Sam Hood’s photographs. The caption noting that
The Council Chamber of the new Town Hall may be said to have set a new standard in New South Wales, for, in addition to being of delightful design and proportion, the provision of individual desks for the Aldermen, is something of an innovation—and an excellent one. The walls are finished to an imitation sandstone with continuous horizontal lines running right around, while the ceiling is simple in design and punctuated at intervals by rectangular panels (by E. J. Viner Registered), the centre grilles being for ventilation. (C&REJ 24 Dec 1937)
Additions proposed in 1963 did not proceed. The design was by the firm of architects who had designed the initial town hall, by then Trenchard-Smith & Morgan. Plans of the proposed additions and alterations are held by Council (now in the local studies collection). The earlier Electricity Department was now referred to as the Mackellar Building. Theatres & Public Halls files for the Manly Town Hall for the 1960s and 1980 are held at State records. |