Lerwick's Town Hall was designed to dominate the surrounding townscape from its setting on the ridge of the Hillhead. Since its opening in 1883, it has served the town in its dual role as a prime venue for social or cultural events and a seat of local government (for Lerwick Town council up to 1975, and Shetland Islands Council thereafter). The funds that built the hall came as a result of rising prosperity in the herring industry from 1880 onwards, and a century later another upsurge in local prosperity, this time from North Sea oil, provided the funds for a major refurbishment of the building to maintain it in a pristine state for many decades to come. Most of the portraits in the collection hang high up in the hall.