Albert Hall, Heritage hall in Yarralumla, Australia
The Albert Hall is a Federal Classical hall on Commonwealth Avenue in Yarralumla, designed by Federal Capital Commission architect David Limburg under Chief Architect Henry Rolland and amended before construction. A porte-cochere at the front lets passengers alight undercover, leading to a foyer with three sets of doors. The hall seats about 400 people in open-spaced rows, with a mezzanine of raked fixed seating for about 50 above.
The Albert Hall opened on 10 March 1928, inaugurated by Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, who chose its name after London's Royal Albert Hall, the Duke of York's first name, and Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It was Canberra's main venue for audiences over 700 until the Canberra Theatre opened in 1965. In 1949 it hosted the inaugural meeting of the Canberra branch of the Liberal Party.
The Compton Theatre Organ was installed in the late 1980s after the ACT Division of the Theatre Organ Society of Australia spent almost ten years restoring its parts. Its inaugural concert was on 17 August 1986 with organist Tony Fenelon. The instrument had stood from March 1933 to 1968 in the Gaumont Palace, later the Odeon, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
The main hall seats about 400 people in open rows, with a mezzanine of raked fixed seating for roughly 50 more reached by stairs from the foyer. A porte-cochere at the front lets passengers step from vehicles under cover. The stage sits at the west end, with two separate performer preparation suites behind it and no passage around the stage.
The Compton Theatre Organ installed here in the late 1980s was restored over almost ten years by the ACT Division of the Theatre Organ Society of Australia. Its inaugural concert was on 17 August 1986 with organist Tony Fenelon. The instrument had previously stood from March 1933 until 1968 in the Gaumont Palace, later the Odeon Theatre, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK.
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