Venue: Wellington Town Hall
Town: Wellington, NZ

The Wellington Town Hall (Māori: Te Whare Whakarauika) is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand, which opened in December 1904. It has been closed to the public since the 2013 Seddon earthquake for extensive strengthening work, and is projected to reopen in 2027. The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1901 by the Duke of Cornwall and York (later George V). The organist and choirmaster Maughan Barnett composed an Ode for the occasion. Construction began the following year. It was officially opened on 7 December 1904. The Town Hall was originally fronted on the Cuba Street side with a Roman-styled portico and a 150-foot clock tower. A clock was not installed in the tower until 1922, when John Blundell, owner of The Evening Post newspaper, donated one. In 1934 the tower was removed as a precaution following the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and the main portico, pediment, balustrade, parapet and bold cornice were also removed. The building was earthquake strengthened in 1943 following an earthquake the previous year. During the strengthening the Corinthian capitals on the exterior were replaced with Tuscan detailing. The Town Hall may have been a low maintenance priority of councils over the years. By 1973 during a concert (Kenny Rogers and The First Edition) their sound levels caused dust to begin to drift down over the stage. When their music hit a crescendo during the chorus of one piece (may have been Something's Burning), the stage ceiling collapsed on them, dropping pigeon bodies, empty and dead eggs, nesting material and plaster rubble and dust all over the stage and the band's equipment. The concert did continue, with black-dressed stage hands creeping around the stage sweeping up detritus, removing carcasses, and dusting the amplifiers, speaker cases, keyboards, and anything else covered with plaster dust. In 1980 the Michael Fowler Centre was built immediately in front of the Town Hall's main entrance in anticip