Glebe Town Hall

Glebe Town Hall
Glebe Town Hall, prior to restoration, in 2007.
General information
Type	Government town hall
Architectural style	Victorian Italianate style.
Address	160 St Johns Road
Town or city	Glebe, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Construction started	1879
Completed	24 June 1880
Renovated	1889–1891 1988–1989 2008–2013
Client	The Glebe Borough Council
Owner	City of Sydney (current)
Design and construction
Architect	Ambrose Thornley
Main contractor	Sanbrook and Sons
Renovating team
Architect	Otto Cserhalmi and Partners (1988) Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (2008)
Renovating firm	Stonehill Restorations Pty Ltd (1988)

The Glebe Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Glebe, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It stands at 160 St Johns Road and was built in 1880 in the Victorian Italianate style by architect Ambrose Thornley. The Town Hall was the seat of The Glebe Municipal Council from 1880 to 1948 when it became a community centre and hall run by the City of Sydney. After being transferred to the Municipality of Leichhardt in 1968, it was returned to the control of the City of Sydney following a boundary change on 8 May 2003. The council commissioned extensive restoration works in 2008, which were completed in 2013, and the hall is now heritage listed on the Sydney Local Environmental Plan as "representative as the seat of local metropolitan government for Glebe Municipality, the fourth municipality to be incorporated under The Municipalities Act of 1858." It is also listed on the Register of the National Estate.

With the establishment of The Glebe Municipality on 1 August 1859, the council first met in the long room of a local hotel, but a few months later moved to a house which Chairman George Wigram Allen had placed at their disposal until a purpose-built cottage was rented for the purposes of Municipal Chambers. In July 1879 the council approved a £5000 design for a new town hall located at the junction of St John's Road, Mount Vernon Street and Lodge Street, designed by prominent local architect, Ambrose Thornley.

The Town Hall, surmounted by a clock which had been donated by Sir George Wigram Allen, was completed along with a Council Clerk's residence at the rear, and opened on 24 June 1880 by Mayor Thomas Dunn, with the Sydney Morning Herald noting its appearance thus:

"It is elevated, and most suitable for a public building of this class, having three frontages — an important feature for architectural appearance. [...] It certainly is the finest building of the kind out of the city. The style of architecture is Italian, the principal front, to St. John's Road, being divided into three bays by means of quoins, &c., and the central feature is bold portico, approached by a flights of steps, which adds greatly to the general appearance of the design."