Initially, the building of the Odessa City Council was built as a stock exchange building. In 1899 the stock exchange was moved to a new building (now the building of the Odessa State Philharmonic). The city council is located in the building of the stock exchange. In front of the building there is a monument to the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, who lived in Odessa for thirteen months.
Every half hour the chimes on the clock above the entrance play the anthem of Odessa - the melody "Odessa, my native city"