City Hall, Hong Kong

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City Hall

The Hong Kong City Hall (Traditional Chinese: 香港大會堂) is a building located at Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong does not designate itself or any part of itself as a city, there is no mayor or city council; therefore, the City Hall does not hold the offices of a city government, unlike most city halls around the world. Instead, it is a complex providing municipal services, including performing venues and libraries.

The City Hall is managed by the Government's Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The Urban Council managed the City Hall (through the Urban Services Department) and held its meetings there prior to its dissolution in December 1999.

1 History
- 1.1 Facilities
2 See also
3 Gallery
4 External links

[edit] History

Opened in March 1962, the 10,000-square-metre complex is the second building complex to serve as the city hall. The first City Hall was located at the current site of the HSBC Hong Kong headquarters building.

[edit] Facilities

Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, heading towards (From the left), the City Hall, Prince of Wales Building, and across the road Hong Kong Club Building. Central Plaza can be seen in the background.

The complex has two buildings and a garden.

The High Block, a 12-storey building, is in the south-western end and houses a number of government facilities, including:

City Hall Library, an eight-storey building.[1], which in the past served as the central library of Hong Kong
Exhibition Gallery, 260-square feet. [2]
Recital Hall with 111-seats. [3]
Committee Rooms: two 40-seat committee rooms (on the 7th floor) [4]
Marriage registry [5]

The Low Block is at the eastern end, with the following facilities:

Concert Hall, with 1,434 seats and 60 standees. [6]
Restaurants and a cafe [7] - continental (Deli and Wine), Chinese (City Hall Maxim's Palace) and European (Maxim's Restaurant) cuisines
The URBTIX Box Office [8]
Exhibition Hall, 590-square metres. [9]
Theatre with 463 seats.[10]
Performing Arts Shop [11]
an enquiry counter [12]

The conference room of the former Urban Council was also at the lower building of the City Hall.

The City Hall Memorial Garden [13] at the north-western side is a 12-sided complex includes a memorial (with Roll of Honour and Plaque) to those killed in Hong Kong during the World War II (1941-1945).

City Hall has hosted a number of culture events, including the Hong Kong Festival, Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1973, Asian Arts Festival in 1976, the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 1977, and the International Arts Carnival in 1982.