Bust of Ron Watkiss, St David's Hall

Link to Welsh translationBust of Ron Watkiss, St David’s Hall, Cardiff

Councillor Ron Watkiss (1920-1991) was influential in the improvements made to Cardiff’s city centre from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. His greatest legacy to the city was the creation of St David’s Hall. The Hall was developed in tandem with the original St David’s Shopping Centre (later replaced by the much larger St David’s Dewi Sant Shopping Centre).

Ron, a Conservative councillor, was leader the city council in the 1980s. He became Mayor of Cardiff in 1981 and was made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to the Welsh capital.

His bronze portrait bust is situated in the front foyer of St David’s Hall (to the right of the entrance). It was sculpted by Chris Kelly, who studied at the Cardiff Institute of Higher Education. The piece includes a backdrop of low-relief depictions of musical instruments and other objects associated with the Hall.

It was presented by Ron’s friends and associates. It was unveiled on 20 May 1992, just under a year after his death, by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Sainsbury, to coincide with the Hall’s 10-year anniversary celebrations.

This corner of the front foyer is now reserved for the promotional purposes of the venue’s orchestra-in-residence, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The orchestra was founded in 1928.

Postcode: CF10 1AH    View Location Map

Website of St David’s Hall

 

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