This weekend just gone (Saturday 17 – Sunday 18 April), Perth Concert Hall participated in a very special event that celebrated Perth City’s natural, cultural, and built heritage: Heritage Perth Weekend 2021.
If you attended one of our Heritage Perth Weekend tours, we hope you enjoyed it and learned something new about the Hall! If you were unable to attend or weren’t aware this event was happening, keep reading to learn some fun facts about our beautiful venue.
We were supposed to be a hotel. The land on which Perth Concert Hall was built was originally intended to be used for the Chevron-Hilton Hotel. In fact, construction had already begun in the area that is now our forecourt on St Georges Terrace – however, the project was cancelled and the structure had to be paved over with brick. When the decision was made to build Perth Concert Hall, it had to be done behind the forecourt as the foundations below the brick were not sturdy enough to hold the Hall. These weight restrictions are partially why we don’t host events on the forecourt!
Perth Concert Hall forecourt on St Georges Terrace, 1973
We have a secret bathroom that was built for a very special guest. Through the doors of the Perth Concert Hall Boardroom is a tiny bathroom that was built entirely for use by Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the venue. While the Queen hasn’t dropped by for quite some time, the royal throne, which has a distinct pastel colour scheme, still remains.
The 'Queen's bathroom' in Perth Concert Hall
Our pipe organ is even bigger than it looks. If you’ve attended a concert in the Perth Concert Hall auditorium, you’ve probably noticed our giant pipe organ. What you might not know is that although 66 pipes are visible to the audience, the organ actually contains a whopping 3,000 pipes!
Perth Concert Hall's pipe organ
We’re not the only Perth Concert Hall. There’s another concert hall with the exact same name in Perth, Scotland, which has understandably caused some confusion for patrons and staff of both venues! In 2006, we participated in a twinning ceremony and the signing of Mutual Understanding with the other Perth Concert Hall.
Perth Concert Hall, Scotland
Source: Horsecross Arts
Our storage closet has a scandalous past. In the early days, Perth Concert Hall had a cleaner named Rosie who became famous when workers at the nearby Family Law Court building complained about a woman sunbathing nude on the roof, distracting them from their duties. Upon investigation, it was discovered that Rosie had taken it upon herself to have a nice ‘lie down’ on the roof of the Hall after a few hours of cleaning. This infamous act is the reason that Rosie’s storage room for her cleaning supplies (which now holds our venue signage and bollards) has since been known as ‘Rosie’s Room’.
Want to learn more about the secrets and history of Perth Concert Hall (and maybe take a peek at the queen’s bathroom and Rosie’s Room)?
Book yourself in for one of our guided tours! Your tour guide will take you backstage, upstage, past technical contraptions, down secret passageways, and more. We offer tours all year round and admission is only a gold coin donation.
