A major refurbishment of Newcastle's City Hall is almost complete. This building has held a proud place in the Civic Square for decades and has been the venue for numerous civic events including council meetings, lord mayoral receptions, citizenship ceremonies, concerts and public meetings.
Opened in 1929, the City Hall is one of Newcastle's unique and prestigious buildings. As well as the council chamber, the building once housed council's administration staff. Commissioned by newly elected Mayor Morris Light in 1925 and designed by Henry White (architect of the Civic Theatre), Newcastle City Hall became home to an amalgamation of 11 municipal councils and parts of two shires to create a new Newcastle City Council.
In 2029 City Hall will celebrate its centenary. For me, the anniversary will be tinged with sadness as the building has gradually lost much of its crucial role in municipal life under Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and her Labor colleagues.
For decades, City Hall housed the lord mayor's office. Cr Nelmes moved out after construction affected her office and she never returned. Cr Nelmes and her staff now occupy offices on the 6th floor penthouse at 12 Stewart Avenue, Newcastle West, rented accommodation that costs council and ratepayers more than $57,000 a week. The top-floor fit-out was specified in the building contract to have a higher standard of finish to the floors below that are occupied by hard-working administration staff.
Independent councillors have submitted two notices of motion asking that the total costs of the move be made public. On both occasions, the CEO refused these motions and they were not allowed to be included in the business papers. Another recent request for information has, to date, been ignored.
City Hall also once housed council meetings. The historic chamber now is empty with the lord mayor spending more than $1million fitting out the ground floor of 12 Stewart Avenue with a duplicate chamber. This "roll-in roll-out" installation is hidden in cupboards between meetings and has little space for a public gallery.
After $25 million being spent on City Hall, this proud building has a greatly diminished civic function and is now probably Newcastle's most expensive function centre. Let's hope Labor doesn't plan to sell City Hall, as it did with the roundhouse building, using the proceeds of an asset we once owned outright to pay for the fit-out of a building we do not own and which will depreciate to zero value before its lease expires.
Cr John Church is a City of Newcastle Ward 1 Independent
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