Waterloo Town Hall
| Waterloo Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Alternative names | Waterloo Library |
| General information | |
| Type | Government town hall |
| Architectural style | Victorian Italianate style with Second Empire elements. |
| Address | 770 Elizabeth Street |
| Town or city | Waterloo, New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°53′58″S 151°12′24″E / 33.89933°S 151.20658°ECoordinates: 33°53′58″S 151°12′24″E / 33.89933°S 151.20658°E |
| Construction started | 1880 |
| Completed | 1882 |
| Renovated | 1996–1997 |
| Client | Waterloo Municipal Council |
| Owner | Sydney City Council (current) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Edward Hughes John Smedley, Ambrose Thornley |
| Architecture firm | Thornley & Smedley |
| Main contractor | Bretnall & Poulton |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Stephenson and Turner |
The Waterloo Town Hall is an Australian heritage-listed town hall located in Waterloo, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. It stands at 770 Elizabeth Street. It was built in 1880–82 in the Victorian Italianate architectural style with Second Empire elements by John Smedley, Edward Hughes and Ambrose Thornley. The Town Hall was the seat of Waterloo Municipal Council from 1882 to 1948 and since 1972 has been the Waterloo Library, a branch of the City of Sydney Library (and formerly South Sydney Library) servicing Waterloo and Alexandria.
When the Municipality of Waterloo was proclaimed in May 1860, the council first met in a room on Botany Road. However, when the Alexandria part of the council area separated and formed their own municipality in August 1868, the council met in a room in Wellington Street, Waterloo, until they commissioned the new Town Hall in 1880. In 1880 the council leased a block of land in Elizabeth Street for the town hall, and was obtained from the Cooper family at a rental of £10 per annum. The council continued to pay this rental until 1912, when Sir William Cooper, 3rd Baronet, gave the council the freehold title to the land.
The Town Hall was commissioned to a Victorian-Italianate with Second Empire influences design by Architect Edward Hughes, with construction supervised by Ambrose Thornton Jnr and John Smedley, of the firm Thornley & Smedley. However the construction of the Hall, undertaken by builders Bretnall & Poulton, went through several cost blow-outs, delays and enlargements, with a final cost of £3500 (from an original cost of £2600) with a £370 annual cost in interest payments. Waterloo Municipal Council first met in the hall on 19 August 1882.
In 1915 a 'Social Hall' was commissioned and built to the rear of the existing hall, and it was unveiled by Mayor Dunning on 24 February 1915 During the Second World War an air-raid shelter was built in the town hall, and is one of the few surviving examples left in Sydney. On 21 April 1941, William McKell, Leader of the NSW Opposition and the local MP for Redfern, gave a policy speech launching his campaign for the 1941 state election at the town hall. In February 1946, Mckell announced his intention to retire as Premier and from politics at the town hall.
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