4 August 2010

The Albert Hall returns

| johnboy
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Albert Hall

Mary Porter is celebrating the re-opening of the Albert Hall after years of ACT government neglect required a major refurbishment.

“In 1949 Albert Hall also witnessed the first ever Citizenship Ceremony and the new Australians were welcomed to their adopted country by Prime Minister Ben Chifley and Australia’s first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell.

“Among the most famous artists to perform was Dame Joan Sutherland and Albert Hall has also hosted countless concerts, eisteddfods, plays and musicals and for many years was home to the Canberra Repertory Society.

“The late Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth have also attended reception at Albert Hall.

“The refurbishment has been a major project and the Friends of Albert Hall have played a significant role in working with the ACT Government to restore Albert Hall to its original glory.

“The restoration work has included the retiling of the roof, repainting the interior and exterior, upgrading of the heating ventilation, air conditioning toilets and kitchen, and repolishing the floor, one of Canberra’s finest dancing surfaces.

RiotACT sources, however, are not at all impressed with the cowboy job done with the interior paintwork.

If you’re thinking about hiring the hall there’s a spiffy web page.

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It would be nice if the website had a calendar giving dates it was/wasn’t booked for.

Nice venue for say, a cat show…

Whitworth Spanner4:25 pm 04 Aug 10

Captain RAAF said :

It’s a grand old building and I love it but it’s a shame it isn’t twice or three times as big, it would open it up to a greater variety of functions. As it is now, you could barely fit in a meeting of the Guatemalan swampland marsupials appreciation society!

Send me an application form at once …

Looks like a lovely restoration job on a beautiful building. Why, oh WHY, didn’t they install a caterers kitchen??

Captain RAAF2:12 pm 04 Aug 10

It’s a grand old building and I love it but it’s a shame it isn’t twice or three times as big, it would open it up to a greater variety of functions. As it is now, you could barely fit in a meeting of the Guatemalan swampland marsupials appreciation society!

old canberran1:21 pm 04 Aug 10

I wonder if anyone remembers the caretaker, Ernie Sorenson, back in the 50’s and 60’s. He used to take the bookings, do the cleaning and keep an eye on the place. He used to live in a cottage at the back of the hall on the edge of the Royal Canberra Golf Course property.
It was also a great venue for school concerts, speech days, deb balls, office parties, wedding receptions, art shows etc etc.
It’s really good to see it restored to its former glory.

What’s wrong with the paintjob John Boy? Is it the colours or the quality?

A bit of both, but I haven’t inspected for myself.

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