Brisbane City Hall

Brisbane City Hall is considered one of Brisbane's finest buildings, with its design based on the Roman Pantheon and St Mark's Campanile in Venice. It's listed on the Register of the National Estate since 1978 and on the Queensland Heritage Register since 1992, and you can hear its Westminster chimes sound on the quarter-hour.

This building has seen a lot of history, hosting everything from royal receptions and pageants to orchestral concerts and school graduations. It was once the tallest building in Brisbane. The firm Hall and Prentice designed it, working with four young architects from New South Wales.

Getting it built wasn't straightforward. There was a lot of debate about where to put it, but in 1914, Mayor Charles Moffatt Jenkinson finalized the decision for this spot, then called Albert Square, by selling an alternative site.

The first foundation stone was laid on February 3, 1917, by the Queensland Governor. They even put a time capsule inside it, with copies of daily newspapers, city proclamations, council minutes, coins, and a message from the Governor. But that stone was later found to be out of alignment and removed. Some claim it was lost, others that it was used in another building's foundations. The second, and current, foundation stone was laid on July 29, 1920, by Edward, Prince of Wales.

The site itself was swampy and had a creek, so they needed to pump water out during construction, which started in 1920. Sadly, one man died while inspecting the site.

The building was occupied from January 3, 1928, even before it was complete. The Lord Mayor, William Jolly, made the first official transaction by paying his electricity bill. The official opening by Queensland Governor Sir John Goodwin was on April 8, 1930.

The 4,391-pipe organ here was built in 1891 in Liverpool, UK, and moved to City Hall in 1927. Its first recital was in 1929. The building underwent a three-year restoration, reopening on April 6, 2013, after serious issues like subsidence and concrete cancer were discovered in 2008. Most council offices moved out in 1975 to the Brisbane Administration Centre, but the Council Chambers and the Lord Mayor's and Deputy Lord Mayor's offices are still here.