Town Hall, George Town

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The Town Hall of George Town is a civic building at Padang Kota Lama, Penang. Like most important buildings of the British administration, the Penang Town Hall takes pride of place in front of an open field, in this case the Esplanade Padang in George Town.

The foundation stone of the Town Hall was laid in 1879 and the main building completed in 1883. It consisted of an assembly hall, a grand ballroom, and a library. You may be keen to note that the Penang Library was born here, after the Prince of Wales Library was moved here and renamed. An annex was added in 1890 while the porch and top floor added in 1903. The left wing - when cement plaster was introduced - as added in 1930. Those extensions and renovations together constitute the Town Hall.

For decades the Penang Town Hall was the watering hole for the local socialites and elites, the venue for theatrical performances. Church services were held here - by Wesley Church in 1891, Bangsawan plays were performed, in 1903, while a group of Filipino musicians played here from 1890 right up to 1954. The Penang Town Hall was even featured in the movie Anna and the King, the courtroom segment of which was filmed here in 1999.

The Penang Town Hall.

When the local authorities considered demolishing the Penang Town Hall, the National Museum stepped in to save it, gazetting it a historic monument on 29 July 1993.

The Penang Town Hall building was in in a sorry state when the previous tenant moved out. A lot of insensitive addition was made to it without regard to the original material used. When the building was handed back to the museum, the roof was leaking, and the wall plasters coming out, due to the paint used that prevented proper evaporation of ground water. Also, it caused the porous walls to accumulate salt. During restoration, a special process was in place to suck out the salt.

At the time of writing this article (January 2006) it is still inconclusive how the restored Penang Town Hall will be used. AsiaExplorers look forward to the Penang Town Hall being returned to the people of Penang, for uses that benefit the community.

Visiting Penang

If you're planning a trip to Penang, please go through the information I have assembled in Penang Travel Tips. You'd find there information covering all aspect about Penang, including accommodation, transport, food, shopping, places of interest and more. Everything you need to know Penang is right there at your finger tips!

Front facade of the Penang Town Hall.

(above) Front façade of the Penang Town Hall.
(left) The grand ballroom of the Penang Town Hall.
(below) Details on the ceiling.

Details on the ceiling.

(above) Newly fitted cast iron works.
(right) One of the chandeliers of the grand ballroom.

(left) Corinthian columns at the grand ballroom.
(below) Side façade of the Penang Town Hall

Click for list of Penang Heritage Sites

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Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.