Gala

The Gala Neighborhood (officially the Gala Apple neighborhood) is an area in Oranjestad, along the Northern Rim of Homestar Bay. It borders the Haverhill neighborhood to the east. The neighborhood was founded in 1783 as the Grunto Plantation. It is home to the Hall of Justice and was once home to the ancient Alpha Forest Preserve.

History

Gala is named for the abundant red apple trees that were once found throughout the region. The trees came from the original Grunto plantation, which specialized in apple production.

The site was first used as a base of operations by General J.F. Grunto during the Shire Revolution. In 1778 he established a post on the southern shore, from which he trained his 175-man regiment for the defense to the west. After the war, Grunto was granted a tract of land for his services in the war. In 1783, Grunto began construction on his estate, which still stands today in the northwest corner of the neighborhood. The plantation’s success drew several families to the area and a small community developed.

Due to the many floods in the nineteenth century and the Shire Canal Company’s failed competition to build a canal connecting the north and south shores of the area, the village struggled. On August 24, 1805 the Oranje County Legislature authorized the construction of a canal linking Homestar Bay to the Connoor River. The first attempt failed and the investors lost their money. Developers tried to build a canal in 1817 and again in 1820, before the Shire government completed the Canal project in 1827.

The Great Flood of 1937 decimated the area. The entire village was submerged beneath as much as 12 feet (3.7 m) of water in some areas for over three weeks during January and February. With almost all of the old town destroyed, Gala was rebuilt into the modern community that exists today with the help of the Oranjestad government. The community was rebuilt on stilts with roads linking to the Tier 2 Haverhill neighborhood. The Grunto Estate and White Hinterland Inn were restored and the remnants of the old apple plantation were given protection status beneath the Tier 2 homes. Oranjestad would eventually use their financial assistance during the event as leverage in a claim to annex the area - a claim they won in 1941.

Collapse of 2015

In August 2015, the Gala Apple Canal suddenly collapsed, bringing with it several homes and roads. Miraculously, all of the homes were empty at the time and no one was killed. The area has been cleared, with only the Grunto Plantation, Hinterland Inn, and Hall of Justice remaining. The ancient Alpha Forest Preserve was heavily damaged and has unfortunately been removed as well. The city has redeveloped the area to feature mid-rise apartment buildings and the new state-of-the-art St. God's Hospital.

Points of Interest

The Hinterland Inn is the oldest continuously operating Inn in the Shire, dating to 1798.

Grunto Estate is still owned and operated by the descendants of the original family. The home offer tours to the Public.

The Hall of Justice stands on the eastern edge of the neighborhood. It is Gala's only Tier 3 connected structure.

Behind the Scenes

The area was once heavily decorated with red apple item frames and red wool - hence the name. Grunto’s estate was actually Grunto’s tyro build. It is still in it’s original location. Grunto’s floating castle, which used to float above Parkview Island, was demolished.

White Hinterland Inn was copy/pasted from the destroyed Mattropolis, an unfinished city that used to exist near Sakura.

The “Alpha Forest” is a reference to the way trees that originated in Minecraft Alpha looked. Alpha leaves had a very different item code and as a result when they converted to Beta and other versions, the leaves of Alpha trees became 100% random: evergreen, jungle, birch, etc etc all appeared in one tree. As the server developed, these trees became more and more rare. The Alpha Forest Reserve was made in an effort to protect them (although some were manufactured via WorldEdit). This forest was demolished on August 19 2015.

List of Buildings

Hall of Justice

This building houses detective services, criminal courts, surveillance facilities, and an airship patrol station.

White Hinterland Inn

A very old Inn originally created by Mattgreydesigns for his old town of Mattropolis.

Gala Watchtower

An old watchtower, formerly used to observe ships coming and going from Oranjestad. Today it is a tourist destination.

St. God's Hospital

A small but still state-of-the-art hospital serving the Oranjestad area.

The Spartan

A narrow apartment building overlooking Homestar Bay.

The Winwood

A large apartment building housing nearly 50 residents.

Werner Taut Residency

This home is built directly into the cliffside and is the home of a famous T.V. show theme composer from the 1950's.

Grunto Plantation

This building predates Oranjestad and was originally built by Grunto.