Bloemfontein City Hall

Bloemfontein City Hall is a civic venue in Bloemfontein.

History

The first Bloemfontein Town Hall was built in 1882-1883. It was demolished in 1934.

A newer building, the Bloemfontein City Hall, replaced the first Town Hall in 1835, albeit in a new location a few street blocks away.

The second building has a beautiful Italian style interior with an attractive sandstone exterior. It is a large stately sandstone building which was designed by the well known, Sir Gordon Leith. The Bloemfontein City Hall also leads into the Clarendon Hall which incorporates an unusual design element. The western entrance into Clarendon Hall has two large granite bowls either side of it which is the same as the Viceroy's House in New Delhi, India. This can be contributed to by that fact that Sir Gordon Leith knew Edwin Lutyens (the architect of Viceroy's House, in India.)

The building was torched in 2017, and restored and reopened in October 2021.

Productions

Besides housing the municipal offices, the hall itself has been utilized for political rallies, receptions, balls, musical and other entertainments, including ballet, opera and theatre.

Mark Twain performed his At Home there in 1896.

The Salzburg Marionettes performed there during at least one of their tours to South Africa.