Storybrooke Town Hall

"For too long, this office was a place to be feared. I want every citizen to feel welcome and included here."

- Mary Margaret

The Storybrooke Town Hall  is a Storybrooke location on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the second episode of the first season.

Visitors

 * Aladdin
 * Apprentice †
 * Archie Hopper
 * Bashful
 * Belle French
 * Cora †
 * David Nolan
 * Doc
 * Dopey


 * Dr. Whale
 * Elsa
 * Emma Swan
 * Evil Queen
 * Granny
 * Happy
 * Henry Mills
 * Hades †
 * Hook


 * Kathryn Nolan
 * King Arthur †
 * Kurt Flynn †
 * Leroy
 * Maleficent
 * Marco
 * Merida
 * Miss Ginger
 * Mother Superior


 * Mr. Clark
 * Mr. Gold
 * Mr. Hyde †
 * Prince Neal
 * Pinocchio
 * Robin
 * Robin Hood †
 * Roland
 * Ruby


 * Sheriff Graham †
 * Sidney Glass
 * Tamara †
 * Walter
 * Will Scarlet
 * The Wraith
 * Zelena

Trivia
On-screen Notes=

On-screen Notes

 * The Town Hall appears in the title card for "Last Rites".
 * The Town Hall carries the Storybrooke heritage seal.
 * The word "magister" (Latin for "master" or "teacher") is written above the door frame in the Mayor's office. Magister was a title of the Middle Ages, given to a person in authority, or to someone having a license from a university to teach philosophy and the liberal arts. It was also a title given to several positions of authority in Ancient Rome, such as Magister officiorum, which literally means "master of offices".
 * The word "civitas" is engraved over the door frame of the door leading out of the room that is outside the office. In Ancient Rome, this word referred to the whole body of members of any given state. It was frequently used by the Roman writers to express the condition of a Roman citizen as distinguished from those who were not Roman citizens.
 * A sign outside the town hall reads:

The Storybrooke Improvement Society was founded by the Storybrooke Women's Institute in order to build the Town Hall. The architect was David H. Goodman cousin of Storybrooke entrepreneur Neil Westlake. The Hall was built and continues to be owned and maintained by members of the Society; men planted the apple trees on the north and women planted the apple trees to the south. The Hall has officially been designated as a Municipal Heritage Site. It serves the community as the focal and social center of Storybrooke


 * David H. Goodman is an Executive Producer and writer for the show, and Neil Westlake is a graphic designer and production staff member on the show.
 * Neil Westlake is also listed as a complainant in a police report in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter".
 * He is also listed as a land surveyor on a document in "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree".
 * Neil Westlake is also credited as a photographer on the front page of the Storybrooke Daily Mirror in "The Stable Boy".
 * He is also listed as one of the reviewers on the book blurb for Isaac's novel "Heroes and Villains" in "Operation Mongoose Part 1".
 * It is also the name of the author of the book Robin Hood: Myth & Legend in "Only You".
 * The sign is adapted, with illustrations and everything, from the real sign outside Fort Langley Community Hall in Fort Langley, the building that doubles as Storybrooke Town Hall for the show. The real-life version, which features drawings of maple trees rather than the apple tree that emblazons the Storybrooke version, reads:

The Fort Langley Community Improvement Society was founded by the Fort Langley Women's Institute in 1924 in order to build the Community Hall. The building was completed in 1931. The architect was Archibald Campbell Hope brother of Fort Langley entrepreneur Charles Hope. The hall was built and continues to be owned and maintained by society volunteers. The maple trees were planted by members of the society; men planted the trees on the north and women planted the trees on the south. The Hall was officially designated as a Municipal Heritage Site in 1979. It serves the community as the focal and social center of Fort Langley and is available for rental for special events.

For information or viewing call 604-888-1223.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * According to production designer Michael Joy, the black and white look in the Mayor's office dramatizes Regina's need for control, with a limited palette and a very rigid color scheme.


 * -|Cultural References=

Lost

 * A box from the Hall of Records is from aisle 08, section 4. 4 and 8 are two of the Lost numbers.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The wallpaper in the mayor's office and the interior of the town hall is Birch Tree Grey Wallpaper and Birch Tree Gold Wallpaper from Fine Decor.
 * At one point, the mayor makes the branches of the wallpaper come to life and trap someone.
 * As the Evil Queen, Regina possessed a silver chest, which she now retains in the Mayor's office.
 * An identical chest covered in rust is sitting on a shelf in Merlin's tower.
 * The Mayor's sofa is a Saskia couch from Christopher Guy Furniture.
 * According to set decorator Mark Lane, it cost 18,000 dollar.
 * Regina has the same couch in the living room of her private home.
 * Regina has a Vitra Eames EA 217 Soft Pad Office Chair behind her desk.
 * When Mary Margaret takes over as mayor, she adds her own personal touch to the mayor's office in the form of a painting of two birds sitting on a branch. This is fitting, as she is known to have an affinity for birds. When Regina takes over again, she burns the painting.
 * The office also contains at least five different porcelain bird figurines. These, however, were not added by Mary Margaret; they were already there during Regina's term of office.

Set Dressing

 * The interior of town hall as well as the Mayor's office have birch-tree wallpaper; a nod to the Enchanted Forest. There are matching birch tree logs by the mayor's fireplace. A leaf-shaped bowl is sitting on a table in the mayor's office.
 * There is a Coral Bowl 14" fruitbowl from Maison Bertet (currently out of stock) in the mayor's office.
 * Regina has the same bowl in her secret hideout inside the Heart Vault.
 * This fruitbowl is also featured at the Vampire Authority meeting table in the fifth season of the television drama series True Blood.
 * Regina's mirror is a Howard Elliot Wilmette Art Deco Multi-Facet Round Wall Mirror.
 * The chairs on either side of the sofa are Flirt Chairs from Hancock&Moore.
 * The horse statue above the fireplace is an Amir Resin Stallion by Lazy Susan (no longer available).
 * The vase next to the fireplace is a Dora Maar Vase made by Jonathan Adler.
 * The white table lamps on either side of the sofa are Bronte Table Lamps from Robert Abbey.
 * A poster pinned to a billboard outside the town hall says "Midsummer Night's Dream". It is accompanied by an illustration of Titania and Nick Bottom.
 * The same poster can be seen in the library in "A Land Without Magic", "The Crocodile", "Smash the Mirror" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town".
 * Another poster is about a boat for a sale, while a third poster shows an illustration of a house. The former can also be seen inside the library in "A Land Without Magic", while latter also appears in the library in "A Land Without Magic" and "Broken Heart".
 * The house illustration can be found on on several online websites, including the Exton-based company Bob Murray's Real Estate Marketing, and the Minneapolis-based company D.S. Bahr Construction, Inc.
 * Another poster is about a charity event ("...preventing abuse and neglect before it starts") at the "Downtown Bowling Hall". A similar poster ("Parents bowling for kids to fight child abuse" ... "At the Downtown Bowling Hall") can be seen at Game of Thorns in "Last Rites".
 * The painting outside the mayor's office is A Calm at a Mediterranean Port, an oil painting from 1770 by the French painter Claude Joseph Vernet.
 * A vintage Silex-Handybreeze fan from the 1950s is sitting on the desk outside mayor's office.
 * Footage from the Season Four DVD featurette "Behind the Magic Tour" reveals that the word "scientia" is written over the entrance to the Mayor's office. "Scientia" is Latin for knowledge, science. While this detail has never been shown on-screen in Storybrooke, it can be seen over the entrance to Cora's office in the Underworld version of the town hall.
 * When Zelena is in Regina's office, planning to take over her job, the apples on the table are green instead of Regina's red ones.


 * -|Other Notes=

Filming Locations

 * The Mayor's office and the records office next to it, are filmed inside a studio.
 * The Mayor's office set was redressed and reused for the auditorium at the Bethlem Asylum, and the fireplace in Dr. Lydgate's office, on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
 * For exterior scenes, Fort Langley Community Hall in Fort Langley, British Columbia, doubles as Storybrooke Town Hall.
 * Fort Langley Community Hall also doubles as the interior of the Storybrooke Town Hall for the Sheriff's election in "Desperate Souls", and the town meeting in "Witch Hunt".
 * The hall is one of the most popular locations for filming Christmas movies and TV movies in Canada, and has shown up as the city hall of innumerable fictional U.S. towns. The building has appeared on multiple television shows including the science fiction series Fringe, the drama series Supernatural and the horror drama series Bates Motel. The hall has also appeared in several movies, such as the 2005 horror film The Fog, the direct-to-DVD Disney movie Spooky Buddies and the 2012 romantic comedy-drama Hope Springs.
 * This location also doubles as the Riverdale Community Hall on the television series Riverdale.
 * Downtown Fort Langley has also been used for filming several scenes on the show. Several local businesses have been transformed into Storybrooke landmarks.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.