Centenary State House.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 212, 23 July 1887, Page 2

Centenary State House.

One of the piincipal matters which have been engaging the attention of Parliament and the public during the past week in ,the consideration in the Assembly of the bill to provide for the celebration of the centenary of the colony. The scheme *et forth in the measure is one that i< not received with universal favour, but it has ■the support of a substantial majority in the popular .branch of the Legislature, and it has boen passed through that House almost as explained in the bill. The manner in which the centenary is to be celebrated, according to the Government proposals, is as follows : - It is proposed that the land known as the Lachlan Swamp, which is situated to the ea^>t of the city, and forms part of the watershed the ■metropolis, shall be turned into a public parl^ to be called the Centennial Park, and that in this park theie bhall be erected a building commemorative of the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the colony, to be designated "The State House." This building is to be so designed and constructed as to prove a great hall or amphitheatre (to be designated "The Phillip Hall ") for the holding of national assemblages and commemorative celebrations and services of a national or apecial character ; a museum (to be designated " The Carrington Institute "), where shall be deposited, as they can be collected, all books, documents, maps, printed or written matter, and reliques, as maybe illustrative of the historical, material and industrial stages of the colony's progress, and of the various aboriginal races of Australia - their custom?, languages, and ethnological characteristics ; a gallery, for the leception of statues or pictures of the governors of the colony and other persons whose names are honourably associated with the colony ; and a public mausoleum, for the interment of those who have been honoured by a public funeral, pursuant to a resolution of both Houses of Parliament. The area of the park will be 64 acres, and a certain portion of the remainder of the land is to be laid out in building sites and sold by public auction, subject to certain conditions and provisions, including if necessary the description of buildings to be erected on the sites. The proceeds from the sale ot this building land will be sufficient, it is expected, to meet the cost of both laying out the park and erecting the commemorative building. In addition to the proposals contained in this bill, Sir Henry Parkes intends to request the Imperial Government to make a gift to the colony of the Endeavour, the vessel in which Captain Cook visited Australia ; and if the request be complied with, the vessel will in some way be connected with the Centennial celebration.