Stories of Civic Hall saved in upcoming book

RESEARCHERS are seeking stories and ephemera for a coffee table book they’re writing about the Civic Hall.

Save Civic Hall’s Judith Buchanan, Barbara Cytowicz and Merle Hathaway are encouraging the public to contact them with any information, objects or memories they can contribute, connected to the building’s history.

Ms Hathaway said anything and everything to do with the hall is of interest to the trio.

“We haven’t got any personal recollections of the actual opening, so we’re particularly interested in that,” she said.

“We’re mainly after information, but if people have objects and interesting items, of course that’s good too.

“We’ve pretty well got the first six chapters close to finished, but there’s a lot of other material and personal stories that can be added, whether people want to write a section, talk to us in person or over the phone. We’re happy either way.”

WB Trahar led the construction of the Civic Hall in the mid-1950s.

Noel Sutherland worked on the site in Mr Trahar’s team. Now in his early 80s, this job was one of his first as a teenage apprentice bricklayer, and he has a fond memory of his own to share.

“Wally Trahar was a master builder,” he said.

“He let me lay the first brick on the east side of the front entrance, which was the office.”

Contact Merle Hathaway on 0419 324 042 or via [email protected] to share your own Civic Hall moments or ephemera. All contributions will be acknowledged in the book.