The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4283, 17 November 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1876.

Most prudent men will concur in tlie opinion that, financially speaking, the Corporation of Dunedin is not in a position to build a Town Hall. Cr. Walter spoke truly when, at the last meeting of the City Council, he said in vigorous if somewhat unclassical language | that “ it was the greatest rot in the world to j talk about the Town Hall paying,” and quoted the receipts from the Melbourne Town Hall in proof of the assertion. In point of fact, it is quite a Colonial idea to regaTfl the erection of a Town Hall as a kind of commercial speculation. In England a Town Hall of the modern sort is usually built by way of adding dignity to and as an architectural ornament of the borough, although doubtless it serves more practical purposes; and the Corporation would as soon think of looking for a pecuniary profit from the undertaking as it would from the money expended upon a banquet to a distinguished visitor. If the Town Hall can be made to pay for itself, well and good; but that is not the primary object in view. A Town Hall is to a great extent a luxury. It certainly would be so in Dunedin, where plenty of accommodation already exists for public meetings of every size and description. Even the Provincialists found the Drill-shed too big for them when they wanted to hold a “mass” meeting; and since Abolition Bills are not likely to make their appearance every year, we can safely look to the Princess’s Theatre to provide accommodation for the followers of Messrs Macandrew and Stout whenever those gentlemen desire to address their admiring constituents. Now, Dunedin cannot afford to indulge in architectural luxuries just at present. It has entered into large undertakings which will severely tax its resources to complete, and which ought to be finished before fresh works are begun. We need not go into details. We have on several occasions ventilated the financial state of the Corporation and urged prudence ; and we rejoice to see that some of the Councillors who, at first, seemed indisposed to listen to the warnings addressed to them, now recognise the need for economy and care. 4 vey short time ago the Council was in a frame of mind which would have led it to spend £20,000 or £30,000 upon a Town Hall, if its members could only have agreed how and where to spend the money; and had the Council of the University proved a little more pliable in respect of terms, the City would in all probability at the present moment be the proud possessor of a fine building on a splendid site, but which it could very well have done without; while it could still better have spared the burthen imposed upon the City rates by the purchase.

Tbe question of office aCComffiodatipn femams to be settled) however, it is da* additional room most be provided for the Corporation offices; and the Scheme of purchasing the University building having fallen through, the question for consideration amounts to this ; Shall the present offices in High street be enlarged, so as to so ve the purpose required pro. tern., or shall a new building be erected in the Octagon, which can be used for offices noW> and hereafter form part of a Town Hall? The decision to Which the Council came on Tuesday was that offices should be erected in the Octagon forthwith, at a cost of not exceeding £7,000, thereby rescinding a resolution passed in October to the effect that £4,000 should be spent in improving the present building. But before proceeding further with this subject, let us observe that the ‘‘ scene ” which occurred in the Council on Tuesday was very funny, but not edifying, nor was it creditable to tbe Council. These displays of acrimony have a comic feature about them which is apt to attract attention in other parts of the Colony, and to bring the Corporation into ridicule. The Councillors should remember the old maxim Noblesse oblige.” Dunedin is the principal City in New Zealand, and eccentricities which might be overlooked in the civic rulers a small country town become serious offences when committed by those who are entrusted with the administration of the affairs of the commercial capital of the Colony. We do not intend to go into the cause of the ill-feeling exhibited amongst the members of the City Council, because that might lead us into private affairs beyond our jurisdiction; but we say unhesitatingly, t hat while a Mayor should carefully refrain from every appearance of dictation, and remember that a conciliatory demeanor is the best means of preserving order, it is the express duty of every Councillor to support the chair, and extremely improper for any to carp and cavil at each little slip with the view of venting his personal animosity upon the holder of the Mayoral chair for the time being; otherwise, the Council would become a bear garden. Reverting to our former topic, it would seem that the Octagon project is the best of the alternatives offered to the Council, provided always that the proposed offices can be built there for a reasonable sum. The City Surveyor, at the request of the Council, made a calculation of the cost of improving the present buildings in High street to the extent required; and the conclusion he came to was that it would entail an outlay of L 3,500, which would famish sufficient office accommodation for several years, but at the end of that period the building wouldbe of littlecommercial value for anything else; and, seeing that the present building is of wood, while the additions must, in order to comply with the law, be made of brick, and the whole structure would necessarily be of a heterogeneous character, the Surveyor’s opinion was, probably, not far wrong. At all events, the Corporation would have to make up its mind to lose a considerable part of the money which it expended in this way. The building in the Octagon, on the other hand, if erected as part of a general design, need not entail the loss of a penny; while, ■by letting the offices in High street, which ought, from their situation, to command a handsome rental, either the whole or the greater part of the interest upon the outlay would be met. It all depends, of course, upon the amount expended in the Octagon. Suspicious references to £IO,OOO were made during the recent discussion in the Council. The City is not in a condition to spend £IO,OOO on the work ; moreover, if we got as far as £IO,OOO we should probably get a little further. The Council has fixed £7,000 as the length of its tether. We do not know how it arrived at the conclusion that £7,000 was the proper amount to spend ; a suite of offices, with a Council. Chamber, ought to be obtainable at a lower figure. Certainly, £7,000 is the fullest extent o which it can safely go in the matter; and if it be found that such a sum is inadequate, there is nothing to be done but fall back upon tbe High street scheme, and wait until the Corporation is disembarrassed from its present undertakings and able to erect k a Town Hall in toto. The proper course to pursue would seem to be to invite competitive designs for a Town Hall, with offices which can be built separately, at a cost not exceeding a certain amount—a strict compliance with the latter condition being made essential to the acceptance of any design. Until this be done there is no substantial ground to go upon, because, while it is easy to get an estimate of the cost of improving the High street offices, it is obviously impossible to calculate the expense of erecting offices in the Octagon before the general design of the building of which they are to form part has been determined upon. Rough guesses at £7,000 or £IO,OOO, or any other sum, are mere chance shots, of no value whatever. Then a legal question has been raised as to the power of the Corporation to build on a site reserved for market purposes; but that is a mere technical difficulty, which the Government would doubtless aid the Corporation in surmounting, although it might possibly involve a short delay in the prosecution of the work. It would be a thousand pities, indeed, if it proved serious. The Oct? gon is a noble site for a Town Hall, and the northern part of the City is so rapidly developing in trade and population that a central situation will soon become a far more convenient spot Tor the Corporation offices to occupy than their present site.