Ceremonial Opening by the Chairman: Inspection by Ratepayers A Rview Eight Years Work and the Cost The main entrance and council chamber of the Administration Building, which has just been completed at a cost of one and three-quarters of a million taels, were the scene of an enthusiastic assembly on Thursday afternoon, the occasion being its formal opening by Mr. H. G, Simms, Chairman of the Municipal Council.
Promptly at four o'clock Mr. Simms arrived at the massive oak doors to the Council's home, which have remained closed for so many years. He was introduced by Mr.
Harpur, acting Commissioner of Public Works, to Mr. R. C. Turner, the architect of the new building, who handed Mr, Simms a silver key with which he unlocked the doors and declared the building open. The key, designed by Mr. R. L. Wall, was enclosed in an ebony case bearing the inscription Presented to H. G. Simms, Esq., Chairman of the Municipal Council, on the occasion of the opening of the new Administration Building, November 16, 1922."
The doors having been thrown open, the guests followed Mr. Simms, accompanied by Councillors and members of the Consular Body, up the magnificent marble staircase, decorated with a wealth of blooms and palms, to the committee rooms and council chamber. The company numbered approximately 500. Among those present, in addition to representatives of the Consular Body and Chinese officialdom, the members of the Council were there, also Mr. Justice Peter Grain, the Very Rev. Dean ©. J. F. Symons, the Hon. Chas. 8. Lobingier, Judge of the U. Court for China; the various heads of departments and other municipal "employees.
Mr. Simms, in proposing the toast of the new building and tte Council, coupled with the names of Mr. C. H. Godfrey and Mr. Harpur, the former and present Commissioners of Public Works, and the architect, Mr. R. Turner, said, in part:—
'THE CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH, On the occasion of the formal opening of our Municipal Administration Building, on behalf of the Council I extend to the ratepayers and their families a hearty welcome, and I trust that this cursory visit to our headquarters will bring home to you something of the magnitude of the work devolving on those responsible for; the driving of the municipal machinery.
As far back as 1904 the necessity for providing a suitable building! to house the Municipal Depart-' ments began to be apparent, but it; was not until 1912 that the Council appointed a special Building Committee to collect all available data for drawing up a schedule of requirements for the projected new building. The members of_ this Committee were Councillors Harry de Gray, Chairman, who, on his departure from Shanghai, was succeeded by Mr. A. W. Burkill, G. E. Clark and H. Figge, with the assistance of Messrs. T. E. Trueman and E. S. Little, and the heads of departments. Based upon the schedules thus approved, the Council's architect, Mr. R. C. Turner, prepared a series of designs, the best of which were submitted to the ratepayers in a special report issued in March, 1913.
The final design was then placed before the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, who suggested that justice could only be done to the design by executing it in granite instead of artificial stone as was original-
The contract was given to Yue Chang-tai and signed in October, 1914. The work was commenced forthwith, but the war and its far-reaching effects, including the loss of many shipments through submarine warfare, resulted in delays, and these were greatly increased by various changes in the programme outlining the future occupancy of the building.
It became apparent when the shell of the building was nearing completion that the Electricity Department could with advantage be housed in it, which involved a redistribution of offices and prolonged delays in interior work.
The building was finally completed this year, thus taking nearly eight! years, or longer than Solomon's" Temple—though it must not be forgotten that the first Department moved in over two years ago and all have been in occupation for the past year and more. The area covered by the new building is 12 mow, the compound occupying an additional 3} mow. The floor area (exclusive of the Drill Hall) is 50,000 sq. ft. The Drill Hall is 180 ft. long by 102 ft. wide and 50 ft. high. The roof was constructed by the Shanghai Dock & Engineering Ca. There are 400 offices in the building land it will interest you to know that the total foreign staff is int the region of 800. The automatic telephone has been installed throughout. The building is constructed of Soochow granite, reinforced concrete and brickwork in cement, with steel frame windows iby Hope & Sons of Birmingham.
The general entrances and corridors are paved with vitreous mosaic tiles supplied by, Malkin Ca., England, but the main! entrances and stairs to Council; rooms have been treated in black and white marble, by Tan Kai & Ca. The low; pressure hot water system was designed by Mr. W. W. Nobbs, London, who also arranged the heating plant for the London County Hall. The interior decoration, panelling, and parquet flooring have been executed by Arts Crafts, Messrs. Weeks & (Ca. having designed and manufactured the furniture. The Volunteer Club rooms have been arranged on the third floor facing Honan and Foochow Roads. A large lecture room with library, reading room, rooms for officers and N. C. officers, gymnasium and miniature rifle range are provided. The garage building in the compound accommodate six armoured cars for the S. V. C. in addition to other motor vehicles; it is at present two storeys high, but provision is made to superimpose two or more storeys when necessary.
What will probably interest you most is the cost of all this, and when I say it cost 1} million taels, I trust that you will be agreeably surprised that it did not cost more, but you must remember that we have not spread ourselves in the matter of lavish interior decorations and expensive finish. As you will see for yourselves the building is in the main a series of simple rooms. The assessed value of the whole Administration block site, nearly 26 mow in extent, is approximately Ts. 1,600,000.
With the growth of the Setfloiment it is already apparent that the time is not far distant when it will be found necessary to complete the entire block by carrying jour the Honan Road frontage in uniformity. a 7 Now, ladies and gentlemen, after listening so patiently to me, I will {conclude by asking you to drink prosperity to the Municipal Administration and would couple with the toast the names of Mr. C. H. Godfrey, late Commissioner, and Mr. Chas. Harpur, present Commissioner of Public Works, and Mr. R. C. Turner, Municipal architect, the gentlemen responsible for the carrying out of the ratepayers' instructions to build an Administration Building worthy of Shanghai,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.