Umeå rådhus, Government building at Rådhustorget in Umeå, Sweden
Umeå Town Hall is a red-brick building with light sandstone portals and window surrounds, completed in 1890 to designs by Fredrik Olaus Lindström. Its Dutch Renaissance-inspired towers vary in height and shape, and some details use cast iron painted to match the sandstone. It stands on the river bank with its main facade facing south over the former harbour.
The current town hall was completed in 1890 and replaced three earlier buildings that served the city since the 17th century. Each of these earlier structures marked a different phase in Umeå's development.
The building's name, Rådhuset, means 'town hall' in Swedish. Since 1994 the former district court rooms have housed a restaurant serving Västerbotten cuisine, along with banquet halls and the municipality's cultural administration. A bust of Gustav II Adolf, Umeå's founder, stands between Storgatan and the south stairs, its granite plinth bearing the monogram GARS.
The town hall has two main entrances: the original south portal facing the Ume River and a second one added to the north before Oscar II's visit in 1896, now facing Rådhustorget. A new esplanade runs from the building northward, and a park lies between it and the old harbour. The empty niche on the western gable is visible from the square.
The niche high on the western gable was meant for a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice, above the entrance to the old police station, now walled up. In 1892 Viktor Rydberg and Georg von Rosen recommended sculptor Oscar Berg for the work, but the council refused, citing reconstruction costs after the 1888 fire. A 1895 motion to let Elis Åslund make it for 500 kronor was also rejected, and the niche remains empty.
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