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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Newport Civic Centre
Newport Civic Centre (Welsh: Canolfan Ddinesig Casnewydd) is a municipal building in Godfrey Road in Newport, South Wales. The civic centre, which is the headquarters of Newport City Council, is a Grade II* Listed building.

History

The old town hall in Commercial Street built in 1885 which featured a 150 feet (46 m) high tower

The first town hall, which was located in Commercial Street and designed in the classical style, was officially opened on 31 January 1843; after this was found to be too small it was replaced a second structure, also in Commercial Street, which was designed by Thomas Meakin Lockwood in the Renaissance style and completed in 1885. After deciding the second town hall was also inadequate for their needs, civic leaders chose to procure a new civic centre: the site they selected had previously been occupied by a property known as St Mary's Lodge in Fields Road.

The ceremonial first sod on the new building was cut by King George VI, accompanied by Queen Elizabeth, on 14 July 1937. Following a design competition, it was designed by Thomas Cecil Howitt in the Art Deco style and built using Portland stone. Progress was delayed by the advent of the Second World War but resumed after the war: the building was fitted out, a collection of 12 murals by the German artist Hans Feibusch were installed and the clock tower was finished. The building, which Newman in The Buildings of Wales described as "something of a disappointment", finally opened in 1964.

The design involved a very wide symmetrical frontage with 37 bays facing Fields Road; the central section of five bays featured a huge full-height round-headed entrance on the ground floor and a clock tower above; there were wings to the east and west, each of seven bays, and beyond that there were side bays, each of nine bays. A court complex was built to the south of the main building between 1989 and 1991. Internally, the principal rooms were the council chamber and the mayor's parlour. The building was the meeting place of Newport Borough Council until the town was granted formal city status as part of a contest for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 and the building then became the home of Newport City Council.

A sandstone plaque to commemorate the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort, which had been placed in the pavement outside the civic centre, was unveiled on 7 October 2011. Works of art in the civic centre include a sculpture by David Evans depicting two straining miners entitled "Labour".

References

  1. ^ Cadw. "Newport Civic Centre (22333)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Now and then: Commercial Street, Newport". South Wales Argus. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Old Town Hall 1842 - 1883, Newport". Newport Past. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  4. ^ Newman, John (2000). The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire. Yale University Press. p. 442. ISBN 978-0300096309.
  5. ^ "Newport Town Hall Competition". The Builder. 8 July 1882. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  6. ^ "St Mary's Lodge Field's Road". Newport Past. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1937. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  8. ^ Newman, John (2000), The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire, Yale University Press, p. 74, ISBN 978-0300096309
  9. ^ "Newport wins battle for city status". BBC News. 14 March 2002. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Ryder Cup plaque unveiled". This is Newport. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  11. ^ Newman, John (2000). The Buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire. Yale University Press. p. 440. ISBN 978-0300096309.
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