When originally completed, it was a two-storey rendered brick structure set back from and raised above street level on a grassy rise behind a cast iron fence and with a Doric porticoed entrance. It contained a library, reading room, a Hall in which the Municipal Council met and other important meetings were held, and accommodation for the Town Clerk.
By 1857, two single-storey wings had been added to the facade on either side of the entrance and out to the street. In 1872, a new Hall, designed by architect Alfred Smith, in the re-named Melbourne Athenaeum, was opened by the Governor. It was approximately thirty metres long by fifteen metres wide with a raised platform extending across the full width at the northern end.
Along the east and west walls ran a clerestory of double-hung sashes above which were ventilators behind ornamental grilles. Eight hundred people could be accommodated (seated) in the hall and 150 in the balcony, which was situated at the south end supported on elegant light iron columns.
The next phase of construction occurred in the mid 1880s, when the front of the building as it now stands was constructed. In 1886 the new building was opened. This represented essentially a remodelling of the area between the new hall of 1872 and Collins Street. The architects for the new work were Smith and Johnston.
In 1910, the upper hall was converted into an Art Gallery, and in 1913 the main Library was renovated. In 1921, the hall was leased to Frank Talbot, who engaged the firm of Henry White and Gurney architects to convert the hall into a theatre. The awning was added at this time and the work was completed in 1924.
The Athenaeum's first tenant was the Melbourne City Council which held its meetings here while the Town Hall was built. The Athenaeum housed Melbourne’s earliest museum collection and was the venue for lectures by Mark Twain and Sir Redmond Barry.
Argus article on the new building
