Hall by John Dibblee Crace in a buff and white colour scheme, replacing his father J G Crace's 1857 green colours. In 1905, a memorial to Queen Victoria by George Frampton was unveiled in Victoria Square to the south front, replacing a fountain, while the number of windows on the Calverley Street and Victoria Square corner was increased from three to five. In 1907, a new grand stair was built down to the basement. During the 1930s, original fittings, including a gallery designed by Brodrick, were lost in an enlargement of the classical Council Chamber. Victoria Square was altered again in 1937 with the removal of three statues, of Victoria, Robert Peel, and the Duke of Wellington, to Woodhouse Moor one mile from the city centre. At the same time the curved entrance steps were changed back to a straight set. Opening Despite the cost overrunning more than threefold, Leeds Town Council considered the Town Hall a great investment and celebrated its new centrepiece. Arrangements for the Town Hall's opening were made well in advance. On 6 September 1858, the Queen arrived at Leeds Central railway station, met by crowds estimated to number 400,000 to 600,000. The Council had even established a sub-committee for street decorations – flags, banners and streamers lined the streets of the city. She stayed the night at Woodsley House on Clarendon Road, the home of the Mayor, Peter Fairbairn, with tight military security. The day was combined with an exhibition of local manufactures, held in the Cloth Hall, and a music festival, which opened with Mendelson's Elijah and closed with Handel's Messiah. Leeds City Police were reinforced with officers from the West Riding, Bradford, London and Birmingham. Local reporters delightedly proclaimed that on that day, as the head of the Empire was in Leeds, the town was briefly her capital. The building was officially opened on 7 September by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, though the tower was still incomplete. Vast crowds turned out to watch the royal procession, including 32,000 schoolchildren assembled on Woodhouse Moor. She proceeded from the Mayor's home down Woodhouse Lane to the city centre and back up to the top of East Parade where a temporary triumphal arch had been constructed to frame the building. The route had been carefully planned so Victoria and Albert could see much of the town without glimpsing the new Town Hall. With a red