Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is on the north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas in the city center.
History
The White Linen Hall, and Linen Hall Library as it was in 1888. Now replaced by City Hall.
The site is now occupied by the Belfast City Hall was once the home of the White Linen Hall, an important international linen exchange. The street that runs from the back door of Belfast City Hall through the middle of linen Quarter’s Linen Hall Street. [2]
Plans for the City Hall began in 1888 when Belfast was granted city status by Queen Victoria. This was in recognition of Belfast’s rapid expansion and thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries. During this period passed Belfast Dublin cards as the most populous city in Ireland. [3]
Construction began in 1898 under the supervision of architect Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas and was completed in 1906 at a cost of £ 369 tusen.Belfast Corporation (now Council) used their profits from the gas industry to pay for the building of the Belfast City Hall. Local firms H & J Martin and WH Stephens were among those involved in the construction business. James G. Gamble, architect, was clerk of works.
City Hall in Durban, South Africa almost an exact copy of Belfast City Hall. [4] It was built in 1910 and designed by Stanley G. Hudson, who was inspired by Belfast design. The Port of Liverpool Building, designed by Arnold Thornley and was completed in 1913, is another very close relative. [5]
August 1, 2006 celebrated the City Hall its centenary with a “Century of Memories” exhibit and family picnic day. [6]
On December 3, 2012 the City Council voted to limit the days that the Union Flag flies from City Hall to a maximum of 18 designated days. Since 1906, the flag flown every day of the year. The move was supported by the Council of Irish nationalist members of the Council and the Alliance Party Council. It objected to the union council, which had a majority in the Council until the Northern Ireland local elections in 2011. On the night of the vote, union and pro-government demonstrators tried to storm the town hall. They held protests across Northern Ireland, some of which turned violent. [7]
Exterior
The grounds of the City Hall is popular for relaxation during the summer. In the background is the dome of Victoria Square and Belfast Wheel.
The exterior is built mainly from Portland stone and is in Baroque Revival style. It covers an area of one and a half acres and has an enclosed courtyard.
With towers at each of the four corners, with a lantern -crowned 173 feet (53 m) copper dome in the center dominates the city hall downtown skyline. Like other Victorian buildings in the city center, the town hall copper-clad domes are a distinctive green.
The Titanic Memorial in Belfast located on the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
The pediment sculpture is by FW Pomeroy, assisted by local Carver J. Edgar Winter, and on the back of the current line of £ 10, £ 20, £ 50 and £ 100 sterling bank notes issued avNorthern Bank. [8]
The design of the building is reminiscent of the Old Bailey in London. [ Citation needed ]
Highlighting projects
Floodlights have been added to City Hall to illuminate the building in a variety of colors and combinations. Using the same technology as the Empire State Building in New York, a white light is applied to the building, after dusk, and there will also be “color-washed” on special dates. [9]
Belfast City Hall is lit green for the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration
| Opportunity | Date | Color |
| Belfast Pride | Saturday, July 6, 2013 | Rainbow |
| orange Fest | Friday, July 12, 2013 | Orange and purple |
| Polish Independence Day | Monday, November 11, 2013 | red and white |
| Chinese New Year | Friday, January 31, 2014 | Red and yellow |
| Valentine’s Day | Friday, February 14, 2014 | RED |
| International Women’s Day | Saturday, March 8, 2014 | Purple |
| St. Patrick’s Day | Monday, March 17, 2014 | Green |
| May 1 | Monday, May 5, 2014 | RED |
| The Queen’s official birthday | To be confirmed – first or second Saturday in June 2014 | Red, white and blue |
Furnishings
The interior has a number of notable features including porte-cochere and the Grand Entrance, the grand staircase, reception room and the great hall. The latter was destroyed during the Belfast Blitz, and then rebuilt.
Carrara, Pavonazzo and Brescia bullets are used extensively throughout the building is stained glass window featuring among other Belfast Coat of Arms, portraits of Queen Victoria and William III and shields iprovinserna Ireland.
Various monuments are in the building, including those of Frederick Robert Chichester, Earl of Belfast, Sir Crawford and Lady McCullagh and 36th (Ulster) Division.
The gardens around City Hall is popular with office workers take their lunch during the summer months, as well as tourists and teenagers gather in their dozens to enjoy the green.
Various statues stands in the grounds, including the Queen Victoria by Sir Thomas Brock. There is also a granite column dedicated to American Expeditionary Force, many of which were based in Belfast before D-Day.
Brock has also designed the marble figure of Thane , the Titanic Memorial in the memorial to victims of the sinking of the RMS Titanic . The ship was built at the Harland and Wolff’s shipyard located in the eastern part of the city. The monument was originally located at the front gate to the town hall, at the junction of Donegall Square North and Donegall Place.
There is a memorial to Sir Edward Harland, former head of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and mayor from 1885 to 1886. It also sculpted by Thomas Brock. [10]
The grounds also house Northern Ireland’s largest war memorial, The Garden of Remembrance and the Cenotaph, where wreaths laid on Remembrance Day.
James Magennis VC, the only Northern Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second World War, is also celebrated in the grounds. Leading Seaman won the medal while serving in the Far East in 1945. A 6-foot-high (1.8 m) memorial Magennis, made of Portland stone and bronze, standing in front of city hall. It was built in 1999.
3 January 2006 ratified Belfast City Councillors a plan to erect a statue to the late Belfast footballer George Best in the grounds of City Hall. After approval from the Best family, George Best Memorial trust was created in December 2006. The trust protector David Healy contributed £ 1,000 to the estimated total cost of £ 200,000. [11]
In October 2007, a 60 m Ferris wheel was built on the plot, which gives passengers panoramic view 200 feet (61 m) above the city. The wheel had 42 air-conditioned capsules, which can contain up to six adults and two children.The wheel finally ended at 18:00 April 11, 2010 and was removed in May 2010. [12]
In 2008 Imjin River Memorial was moved here when Patrick’s Barracks in Ballymena closed. The monument celebrates the Irish [13] troops lost the battle of Chaegunghyon in January 1951 during the Korean War. [14]
- Under construction
- Belfast – Titanic Memorial
- In building
- Monument to Queen Victoria
- Lord Dufferin monuments
- Statue of Edward James Harland, founder avHarland and Wolff
- Memorial James Magennis VC (2004)
- Showing Belfast City Hall with the Belfast Wheel aside, since March 2010
- Statue of James Horner Haslett, Mayor of Belfast (1887-1888)
- Statue of Sir Daniel Dixon, first mayor of Belfast (1892-1893, 1901-1904 and 1905-1907)
- Statue of William James Pirrie, Lord Mayor of Belfast (1896-1898)
- Statue of Robert James McMordie, Lord Mayor of Belfast (1910-1914)
References
- Jump up ^Brett, CEB Buildings Belfast from 1700 to 1914. Page 67. Friar Bush Press, Belfast, 1985.
- Jump up ^The Linen Hall Library, one of Belfast’s oldest cultural institutions, which occupies a place in Donegal Square North in front of City Hall today, began life within the walls of the White Linen Hall.
- Jump up ^The Victorian Web, National University of Singapore.Victorianweb.org (12 September 2006).
- Jump up ^BBC Schools website. co.uk.
- Jump up ^Brett, CEB Buildings Belfast from 1700 to 1914 . Belfast Friar Bush Press, 1985; 65.
- Jump up ^BBC news. BBC News (1 August 2006).
- Jump up ^“Violence in Belfast after the Council votes to change the flag of the EU policy,” BBC News 3 December 2012 Retrieved 5 December 2012
- Jump up ^ “Northern Ireland”. Ron Wise’s Banknote World. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October of 2008.
- Jump up ^Belfast City Hall – Belfast City Council. gov.uk (1 August 1906).
- Jump up ^Belfast City Council.gov.uk.
- Jump up ^BBC News (30 January 2007).
- Jump up ^Belfast City Council Archive March 17, 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up ^ “Royal Ulster Rifles Korean Memorial”. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- Jump up ^ “War Memorial Trust”. Retrieved April 18, 2014.