At the centre of Donegall Square proudly stands the magnificent Belfast City Hall as the civic headquarters of Belfast City Council. Opened in 1906, City Hall was designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas in the Baroque Revival style. Daily tours of the building take place on which visitors can admire the opulent interiors, large art collection and stained glass windows. While the venue boasts a dedicated visitor exhibition and coffee shop it remains a busy working public building, hosting major civic events and the offices the registrars for the recording of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships. City Hall’s beautiful setting of well-kept lawns and gardens are the primary green space in Belfast City Centre and are used for many events such as continental markets and open-air concerts. They feature a number of sculptures and memorials relating to Belfast’s leading figures and historic past, including the Titanic Memorial Garden and the Garden of Remembrance. The largest component of the building’s art collection is, in fact, older than City Hall itself. Dating to the mid-1800s, City Hall is home to a large collection of portraits of former Mayors and Lord Mayors of Belfast. Still commissioned today at the end of the first citizen’s year in office, Lord Mayors are free to select an artist of their choosing which has created a varied and important collection of works including pieces by Sir John Lavery, William Conor, Rita Duffy, Robert Ballagh, and Colin Davidson to name only a few – all of which are displayed throughout the corridors and formal rooms of City Hall.