Sydney Town Hall

Sydney Town Hall is a Victorian-era civic building at 483 George Street in the Sydney central business district, built in two stages between 1869 and 1890 to designs credited to a succession of architects including John H. Wilson, Edward Bell, Albert Bond, Thomas Sapsford, John Hennessy and George McRae. Built of Sydney sandstone in a Second Empire style inspired by the Hotel de Ville in Paris, the building is capped by a clock tower and mansard roofs and stands on the site of the former Old Sydney Burial Ground, used between 1792 and 1820. Its Centennial Hall seats about 2,535 people and houses the Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ, described as the world's largest pipe organ with tubular pneumatic action, and the building's front steps remain a well known meeting place in the city. It is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register and underwent major renovation in 1991 and 1992.