The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1921. A TOWN HALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16450, 11 June 1921, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1921. A TOWN HALL.

An interesting point in connection with the proposal of the City Council to erect a concert chamber on the Manchester Street site is discussed by a correspondent. He claims that if such n hall is built tho provision of a Town Hall worthy of the city will he delayed for many years, and that the larger idea may be permanently put out of court. The point of view expresses the opinion of many people who have taken an interest in the question, and it should ho carefully examined before the city is committed to tho council’s new proposal. The firrt question which must be asked is whether the building of a municipal concert chamber will prejudice! the ultimate adoption of the Town Hall project. It must he admitted that there is some force in the contention that the citizens, onoe they become the owners of a concert chamber or theatre, may not regard the erection of a Town Hall as a pressing matter. The fact remains, however, that there will be an essential difference between the two buildings, and we cannot Bee that the concert chamber and the Town Hall will remain permanently antagonistic. The Town Hall is a larger pro-p-rßion; the building will be nobler in s tuation, architecture and dimensions than tho Manchester Street chamber. It should provide an appropriate setting for the gatherings held on great and historic occasions, which at present are relegated to the cold and prosaic spaces of the uninspiring military barracks. The concert chamber which Is proposed could no doubt he used for various municipal functions, but it could not take tho place of the nobler building for all occasions. The great assemblies of the people will continue to be held in King Edward Barracks or the open air until there is provided a fitting meeting place in the form of a Town Hall. The concert chamber, on tho other hand, will provide a suitable home for meetings and entertainments which would be dwarfed by the immensity of tho Town Hall. The two proposals, therefore!, are not fundamentally in opposition, as each building will be appropriate to its own peculiar set of functions. Tho attitude of many citizens towards the council’s proposal will be influenced by the financial position of the city and the existing stringency. The Town Hall is not regarded as an immediate necessity, and the ratepayers would hos Kite at present to give authority for the raising of the necessary loans. Consent may reasonably enough bo given to the purchase iof a site, because land in the centre of the city is more likely to appreciate than depreciate in value with the passing of the years. The authorisation of a Town Hall loan, however, is not likely to be a serious issue during the lifetime of the .present and under the most favourable circumstances it will he some years before the city will achieve its ambition of possessing such an addition to ita civic edifices. A concert chamber or theatre is urgently required, not to compete with a sufficiency of such places, but to fill a notable deficiency in the number. It is a want which the City Council may reasonably undertake to supply, and if there is room in the Manchester Street block there ia no substantial reason why the hall should not be erected there. The concert hall scheme is receiving a large amount of support, and as it is designed to supply a public demand, with a good prospect of becoming a payable .proposition, the ratepayers may regard it favourably. We would emphasise the point that the conoert chamber cannot take the place of the Town Hall, and that the two projects are distinct, though not antagonistic. The ratepayers have definitely indicated that they cko not want a Town Hall on the Manchester Street site, and the council may fairly give them the opportunity of saying whether the bnilding scheme should include a concert hall or theatre.