government area and Auburn Municipal Council became "Auburn Council". Auburn council seats The first meeting of the council was held in Lee's Temperance Hotel at the corner of Mary Street and Park Road, Auburn, in 1892, and the foundation stone of the first Auburn Town Hall, incorporating a post office, on Auburn Road was laid in 1896 by the Postmaster-General, Joseph Cook. Designed by E. A. Henry and built by Wilkins & Fewster of Granville, the town hall was also officially opened by Cook on 29 June 1898. This building was short-lived however, and was replaced in 1926–1927 on the same site by the second Town Hall which was designed by the mayor, Albert Thomas "Benny" Briggs, and built by H. M. Crouch. The former Auburn mayor and then state Premier, Jack Lang, laid the foundation stone on 6 November 1926 and officially opened the building on 12 July 1927. On the official opening, Lang declared: "When the old Town Hall in Auburn, which is being demolished, was opened in 1898, the population did not exceed 2000; while to-day the town has grown so rapidly that, to say the population exceeds 20,000, is a conservative estimate, and Auburn has outgrown its Town Hall." Following amalgamation in 1949, council meetings were initially divided between the Lidcombe Town Hall and the Auburn Town Hall on Auburn Road, but eventually all functions were moved to the Auburn Town Hall. This continued until the completion of the Auburn Administrative Building, which was officially opened by the Mayor, Stanley Hedges, on 10 July 1965. It was situated at the rear of the existing Town Hall on a block fronting Susan and Queen Street, Auburn and was completed at a final cost of AU£198,000. This remained the council seat until council commissioned in 2000 Michael Davies Architecture to create a new Civic Centre on the same site, incorporating council offices, chambers, city library and police station. Council first met in the new Civic Centre on 26 September 2000. The Civic Centre project won the Local Government Property Award at the 2001 Australian Property Institute Excellence in Property Awards. Auburn Botanic Gardens The Auburn Botanic Gardens originated from the County of Cumberland planning scheme (1946–1951) which set aside the area along the banks of the Duck River for recreation. Both before and after the scheme, Auburn council dumped rubbish and sewage along the banks and in brick