Seat Of Local Government
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre, (in the United Kingdom) a guildhall, or (more rarely) a municipal building, is the chief administrative building of a city town or other municipality. It usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments, and their employees. It also usually functions as the base of the mayor of a city, town, borough, or county.
By convention, until the mid 19th-century, a single large open chamber (or 'hall') formed an integral part of the building housing the council. The hall may be used for council meetings and other significant events. This large chamber, the 'town hall', (and its later variant 'city hall') has become synonymous with the whole building, and with the administrative body housed in it. The terms 'council chambers', 'municipal building' or variants may be used locally in preference to 'town hall' if no such large hall is present within the building. Sometimes, like Birmingham Town Hall in the English Midlands, municipal buildings act as a public social venue and as a building completely separate from the administrative centre; Birmingham uses the Council House for local governance.
The local government may endeavour to use the townhall building to promote and enhance the quality of life of the community. In many cases, "'town halls' serve not only as buildings for government functions, but also have facilities for various civic and cultural activities. These may include art shows, stage performances, exhibits and festivals. Modern town halls or "civic centres" are often designed with a great variety and flexibility of purpose in mind.
As symbols of local government, city and town halls have distinctive architecture, and the buildings may have great historical significance - for example the Guildhall, London. City hall buildings may also serve as cultural icons that symbolize their cities as is the case with Toronto City Hall, Brussels Town Hall, Philadelphia City Hall, and Los Angeles City Hall, that have been featured in Hollywood films.
Read more about Seat Of Local Government: Nomenclature, History, Language
Famous quotes containing the words seat of, seat, local and/or government:
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he
meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
—Bible: Hebrew Psalm I (l. I, 1–3)
“A good seat on a horse steals away your opponent’s courage and your onlooker’s heart—what reason is there to attack? Sit like one who has conquered?”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The country is fed up with children and their problems. For the first time in history, the differences in outlook between people raising children and those who are not are beginning to assume some political significance. This difference is already a part of the conflicts in local school politics. It may spread to other levels of government. Society has less time for the concerns of those who raise the young or try to teach them.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
“The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)