Albany Town Hall

Albany Town Hall, open­ed in 1888, is an im­port­ant civic build­ing defin­ing the centre of Albany.

Design­ed by Adelaide firm Henderson, Marriot and Co.  the founda­tion stone was laid in 1886.  Con­struct­ed by con­tractors Harrison and Hamil­ton, the hall was offici­ally open­ed 18 months later on June 1, 1888, by Mayor W G Knight.

Between 1981 and 1986 the build­ing was con­vert­ed into a com­fort­able 310 seat theatre

It has since been the venue for many com­mun­ity events such at council meet­ings, theatre, musi­cal per­form­ances, cinema, dances and public gather­ings of many types.

The two storey build­ing is of granite masonry with stucco dec­ora­tion, features a four-fac­ed clock tower and is topp­ed by a domed roof and flagpole.

With details such as corner pilasters and quoins, ellipti­cal details to window open­ings, pedi­ments and dec­or­ative urns, the hall is a last­ing ex­am­ple of Victorian Free Classi­cal architect­ure.

The orig­inal design had offices and council chambers on the ground floor, with a large public hall above.

Between 1981 and 1986 the build­ing was con­vert­ed into a com­fort­able 310 seat theatre with dres­sing rooms and stairs added in an ex­ten­sion at the rear.  Addi­tion­ally, the Lesser Hall was creat­ed from un­us­ed office space and im­prov­ed ameni­ties and a lift were added.  The lobby and front office space were also redesign­ed.

Today the Town Hall is used for ex­hibit­ions, semi­nars, workshops and meet­ings, but no longer for per­form­ances.  This role is now fill­ed by the recently con­struct­ed, and much larger, Albany Ent­ertain­ment Centre locat­ed on the fore­shore.

updated 01/11/2019