Fire-damaged Melbourne Town Hall 1925

ADAMSON, Edwin G.

Registration number

1092390

Artist/maker

ADAMSON, Edwin G.

Title

Fire-damaged Melbourne Town Hall

Production date

1925

Medium

photographic paper

Dimensions (H x W x D)

19.5 x 16.2 cm

Credit line

City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection

Keywords

Melbourne Town Hall, 1925, fire

Summary

In the early hours of 1 February 1925, a fierce fire broke out in the Town Hall, destroying the main hall, incinerating mayoral portraits and turning the organ’s pipes into chimney flues. Council Chambers and administrative offices escaped the conflagration, thanks to quick work by firemen. The Age reported the main hall was left an empty shell, with the organ ‘a hill of charred remains’. In 1927, the Town Hall reopened with a larger concert hall that was praised as being more beautiful than its predecessor.