Leeds Civic Hall was officially opened by King George the Fifth, accompanied by Queen Mary, on Wednesday, August 23rd 1933.
After the opening ceremony the key used to open the building went missing. Some 60 years later a couple a couple visiting Leeds for the first time from New Zealand returned the key to the Lord Mayor. They had found it among the effects of their late father, a banker, who had been executor to a former Lord Mayor. It remains a mystery just how it achieved its epic journey to the Antipodes but now, back in its rightful home, it is displayed in the Reception Hall.
Well-known for its impressive collection of civic buildings, Leeds Civic Hall is acknowledged as one of the finest in Britain. Almost triangular in shape, it was constructed on a sloping site of 7070 square metres (8460 sq. yds) and designed to gain the full benefit of light and air.
Faced with Portland Stone the building has a Roman Corinthian portico of six columns. Above are twin towers 52 metres (170 ft) high, on each of which perches an owl, one of the symbols of Leeds. The birds were cast in bronze and surfaced with gilt and were the work of the renowned artist Mr John Hodge. Each owl measures 2.3 metres (7ft 6in) and weighs 500 kilograms (half a ton).
Designed by architect Mr.E.Vincent Harris, the Civic Hall cost approximately £360,000 to construct and furnish. Prior to its construction the offices of the Lord Mayor and various other council departments were housed within the Town Hall together with the Courts. With the expansion of the City and its population, pressure grew for a further civic building to be erected to facilitate expansion within the council. Not able to afford the whole of the building costs from its own coffers the council, through a masterstroke, put to use monies awarded the city to help the local unemployed, by the Unemployed Grants Committee in Central Government. It is said that 90% of the workforce was taken from the local unemployment register.?
Development in front of the Leeds Civic hall, replacing the formal laid out gardens can be seen here viewed in May 2001.
The remodelling of the square does of course raise the question just where a man is supposed to sit and enjoy his can of Special Brew?
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