The renovated New Amsterdam Town Hall with its signature tower gone
In recent times the more than 140-year-old New Amsterdam Town Hall has seen some refurbishment and renovations in that have also included the removal of most of its historic tower which once rose some 75 feet over the main entrance.
Constructed in the 1860s, the New Amsterdam Town Hall was an imposing Tudor timber building which once supported what has been described as a majestic tower capped by a single storey smaller tower encircled by a widow’s walk (also called “widow’s watch” which is a railed rooftop platform often with a small enclosed cupola (small, most often dome-like, structure on top of a building) frequently found on 19th-century buildings).
Earlier view of the Town Hall with tower. It has been reported that renovating the tower was too costly an exercise for the Town Council
The tower also once boasted large twelve-panelled casement windows with narrow timber hoods, each of which would have been supported by two elaborately carved timber brackets. It also contained an expansive council room and large airy concert hall that was naturally cooled by an open gallery, which made it a popular venue for the town’s cultural activities.
Recent renovations also involved replacing the lower eight-panelled casement windows with more modern windows, and repainting. However, the open gallery on its eastern side remains.
The renovated open gallery on its eastern side
By Guyana Times International