The Sun TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1914. ABOUT A TOWN HALL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 16, 24 February 1914, Page 6

The Sun TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1914. ABOUT A TOWN HALL.

Christchurclrhas Wen thinking about a' Town Hall for & long time. The time has now come for action, and the City is taking" the'preliminary steps towards'building, a ; Town Hall on the Market: Square site. We publish on this page a thoughtful and interest 1 ing letter from a correspondent, who raises several Important points, which we hope the Council will not overlook. The Market Reserve has been selected by the City Council purely from motives of, economy. .'Councillors know from experience that the ratepayers are exceedingly reluctant; to authorise large loans, and apparently they have decided that it will be difficult to' obtain the sanction of a loan for a Hail, if it is necessary to purchase a site as well. But there are serious objections to building a Town Hall on the Market Reserve. It will not only destroy the symmetry of Victoria Square, and encroach on one of the most -valued of the City's open spaces, but it will do away i with the most suitable' place in the city for open-air meetings, band concerts, , popular demonstrations, and other gatherings of a, ljke nature.. Seeing that it is only a matter of time before street speakers, preachers, and other "persons with a message,"' will be cleared out of Cathedral Square, the necessity for providing a forum, elsewhere shpuld not be ignored, - • and • ; the Victoria Square Rotunda serres'tne purpose admirably. It is out of the way of the traffic, yet ' it is sufficiently central to enable the persons holding meetings to command an audience, provided they are capable of saying anything of sufficient interest to attract the attention of passers-by. In a cjty such as Christehurch, where so many burn/with the desire to infect; others with their own prejudices on political and social questions, little is to be gained by trying to prevent them altogether, or, ordering them away to Hagley Park, which amounts to the same thing. It is. also perfectly clear that if there is any serious dispute over the site for the proposed Town Hall, it will prove fatal to the whole project. Many ratepayers will oppose the loan for financial reasons, and if others do so in order to protect the Market Reserve from encroachment, the proposal has a very small chance of being carried. In our, opinion there is realty only one site for, a Town Hall that is ' entirely, satisfactory, and that is trie land at.present occupied by the Provincial Government Buildings. The Government , has, been approached in vain, regarding the restoration of this property to the city; but the agitation for its recovery has been very half-hearted; A little'of Auckland's persistency and ■determination .would probably produce very different results. If the citizens really cared very much about getting this site for 'a : Td'wn Hall, they would see that their Parliamentary representatives gave the Government no peace till it was forthcoming. We do not suggest that' ! -"Government should ,hand over this'valuable block'for nothing, but there is : no reason why it should take up a 'doginthemanger atti-' tude. Hitherto "the''Government has declined even to enter into any negotia-

tions regarding the property at all, although it makes little or no use of the Provincial Council and the *est of the buildings are utterly unsuitabls for departmental offices. The first thing to be done is to get an offer; of the property from the Government on reasonable" term's,' and then' the Council would,'have a practical proposition to put before thfe ratepayers. Th.e latter wbuid be mucli more likely to look favourably on a scheme that, in addition to restoring to the city a piece of ground rich in historical associations, would "furnish an unequalled site for a Town Hall, and permit of the erection of a building that would be an ornament to the City of the Plains.