The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 24, 1911.

Evening Star, Issue 14626, 24 July 1911, Page 6

The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 24, 1911.

Counctllor Stillixg's motion, to refer to the Finance Committee ot

Dunedin the City Council the quesTown Hall. tion of ways and means as to a Town Hall, serves to remind our citizens of the fact that this proposal has been standing over since 1878, when Mr Leary laid the foundation stone of the present building. Dunedii: was then warm-blooded and ambitious, keen to challenge the whole Colony whenever any question of supremacy was raised, and tlw building that we have been using as offices for the past 31 years set forth the enterprise of the people, for as originally designed it comprehended the Council Chambers, the Town Hall, and the Market. The citizens of that day very wisely decided to go on at onco with only the front part, tho offices, leaving the Town Hall and the -Market to bo added when the population had sufficiently increased. 'That condition is now complied with. Our City is so large thai a Town Hall must bo regarded not as a luxury, but a necessity, and ,recognising that fact, also believing that the project can bo financed without risk, and, further, welcoming the, general awakening of municipal activity of which this proposal is one of the signs, we heart ily support Councillor Stilling in this movement, and hope that he will succeed not merely in getting the scheme referred to the Finance Committee, but m securing authorisation to go on with the work. Dunedin is not poor, and it need not any longer put up with inconvenience and shabby accommodation for its people. Wellington possesses a Town Hall that the city is proud of, Auckland will by October next take a delight in trying to convince visitors that its big building is the best of its kind in New Zealand, and Dunedin can afford to j similarly equip itself, at any rate to the I extent of supplying municipal requirements. ! What buildings have no lor big public J meetings? Tho Garrison Hall, which J nominally holds 1.800 and can contain 2,000 if unsafely and uncomfortably packed; His Majesty's Theatre, the seating capacity of which is 1,500; Burns Hall, holding 800. These are too .small for a population of the present size. This has been repeatedly felt. Some of our readers doubtless remember the awful squeezing that was experienced in the Garrison Hall the night when Sir George Grey spoke there, and later when the mass meeting of unionists was addressed by Mr J. A. Millar, and on the occasion of MrT. K. Taylor's visit, whilst many a time since then tho doors have had to bo closed and tho multitude barred out. We have seen Mr Seeldon searching in vain for a hall big enough to serve the purposes of his meeting, and forced to a horse saleyard ; and but u week or two ago a visiting entertainment company had to choose- between a wharf shed, a car ehed, and tho open air! Such troubles will orcur frequently in the future unless Dunedin wakes up and insists upon having a hall worthy of the town. Besides, quite apart from special meetings, the citizens have a right to assemble in comfort, if so disposed, for any purpose whatever, and this they cannot do at present. Many who would like to attend a citizens' meeting nowadays often elect to stay away, if tiiero is any prospect of crowding lather than enduro the disagreeable experience of fighting for admission and then being penned up like sheep. There is no call to put up any longer with si*xh humiliating disabilities. Ttta question, if fully considerd, ic not whether Dunedin is to have a Town Hall, but whether such a place shall be purely a row a Hail or a Theatre and a Town Hall combined. On this point we have a definite opinion. It is that we should be content with a Town Hall. With some confidence we. present a iew of the outstanding reasons for that side of the argument. To begin with, Dunedin is already supplied with three theatres—tho Princess's, His Majesty's, and the King's—and sever; 1 ! smaller houses, of entertainment, ;rnd it would be a wanton courting of objections to build another and thus interfere with private enterprise. Allied to this consideration is the fact that a municipal theatre wouTJ have to compete in the matter of hiring fees, whereas a large Town Hall, having no rival, could be worked on an unalterable scale, as the Town Hall at Wellington i 6, the rents there ranging from 10 guineas to £23 per evening, according to circumstances. Secondly, it is important to have a city organ, and we do not know how it would be possible to have a big organ in a theatre. Next, a hall of the size required, much larger than the Garrison Hall, would be too big for a theatre. One of the desiderata in theatre-planning is to seat the people so near the stage as to enabb them to value the facial artistry of the performers. Melb. Spurr was nightly m trouble at the Garrison Hall because the people could not see him properly. Further, a theatre would be much more costly than a Town Hall pure and simple. And, as a minor consideration, but one tliat fairly comes into line, tiw varying businesses undertaken by the City make the Dunedii: Corporation the second largest commercial concern in New Zealand, and in order to work this big concern effectively the offices should be free from the endless bustle that is about a theatre by day as well as by night. For these, and other reasons we contend that the municipal theatre idea ought to be left to the second-rate towns, and that Dunedin should go in for a proper Town Hall.

Such a hall would, of course, be useful

JiHHHKarpoEes. Fetes, balls, reoepand the occasional visits of entertainers who prefer to address Plre many at a refl&oiiable price rather than play to the few at heavy fees: these -would be amongst the subsidiary sources of revenue ; and as part of its primary use as a place for the citizens to meet, in thero would bo th° means of suitably receiving the Governor or any distinguished visitor. All tho needful requirements would be fulfilled by erecting a large plain hall at the rear of the municipal offices. lN 7 o architectural embellishment is called for. The place must be roomy, scientifically ventilated and warmed, and panic-proof: that is all. The site is an ideal one. There could be doors on four sides, and if so preferred the whole stuicture could be in the air, leaving the Corporation yard much as it is. As to cost, we have the assuranco of a builder tost £15,000 would be ample, and £15,000 at per cent, menus the finding of only £675 a year for interest, against which would bo set the hiring fees. We feel satisfied that a workable scheme can be easily thought out, and it is important to com© to a decision quickly, because according to rumor a public-spirited citizen is prepared to give the organ, and if this be true his offer may not stand indefinitely.