The Ridge, Newcastle The Ridge, Newcastle The Ridge is a heritage-listed residence and former hospital at 21 Hillcrest Road, Merewether, New South Wales, Australia. It was also known as Hillcrest Hospital. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The Ridge was built in 1861 by Edward Christopher Merewether, who had arrived in Newcastle as the General Superintendent of the Australian Agricultural Company, and his wife, whose family owned two land grants in the area now known as Merewether. It was later used as a hospital by the Salvation Army but fell into disuse by the
Newcastle City Hall (Australia) public and staff facilities were seen as shabby and inadequate. Writing to the Newcastle Morning Herald in 4 May 1966 "Hostess" captured the concerns of the public for their city's reputation, writing "Most visitors to Newcastle go to the City Hall which is in a sense our "lounge room" so how about a brighter welcome?" The pressure was finally relieved with the construction of the Civic Administration Centre in 1977, and the relocation of all administrative functions out of the City Hall. The City Hall itself was to remain the focus of civic life, and after half a century of