TAMH: History

Dundee

Caird Hall

At the time of its completion in 1923, the Caird Hall was an impressive sight from the harbour entrance and from land. It formed the centrepiece of Dundee's first formal city planning exercise, a 1911 design by James Thomson, which was never fully realised: the pedestals at the side of the ten Doric columns were intended for statuary.

Like Caird Park, the hall was paid for by Sir James Key Caird (1837-1914) of Ashton Jute Works with a donation of Ł100,000 and was both city hall and concert hall. A further Ł75,000 was given by his sister, Mrs Maryatt, after the war to add the colonnade. It was built on the site of St Clement's, Dundee's earliest parish church which existed from at least the mid-13th century and was the main burial ground prior to the establishment of the Howff in1564.

This 1923 view of the concert hall shows the platform and organ. At the time of construction, the hall was 230' x 82'. It had seats for 3,300 and room on the platform for an orchestra of 75 and a chorus of 300.

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