Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices is a heritage-listed former town hall at 133 Cunningham Street, Dalby,

Western Downs Region Western Downs Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of , which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 in June 2018, it is over 228 ti ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It was designed by Hall & Phillips and built in 1932. It is also known as Darling Downs Northern School Support Centre. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. A ...

on 23 July 1999.

History

The former Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices, the third to be built, were constructed in 1932 to a design by Hall and Phillips Architects. Hill and Brown's tender for for the combined Council Chambers and School of Arts was accepted on 4 August 1931. The first settlement of Myall Creek (Dalby) occurred when

Henry Stuart Russell Henry Stuart Russell (16 March 1818 – 5 March 1889) was an English-born explorer, politician, historian and pastoralist, best known for establishing the Cecil Plains Station around the Condamine River area of Australia. Early life Russell wa ...

built a slab and bark hut in 1846 for the use of Samual Stewart and his family. Stewart had been Russell's hut keeper at Cecil Plains for five years prior to moving to Myall Creek. A number of similar buildings were constructed in the same area over the following years. After several approaches to the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governme ...

by residents (the

separation of Queensland The Separation of Queensland was an event in 1859 in which the land that forms the present-day State of Queensland in Australia was excised from the Colony of New South Wales and created as a separate Colony of Queensland. History European set ...

had not occurred), surveyor EO Moriaty was instructed to lie out a township of one square mile at Myall Creek. Due to a mistake in the flood levels however, the New South Wales Government did not accept this 1852 survey plan. In 1853, Captain

Samuel Augustus Perry Samuel Augustus Perry (1787–1854) was an English-born soldier and surveyor. Biography Early life Samuel Augustus Perry was born 17 March 1787 in Wales. He was baptized 12 September 1791 in Holborn, London. He was the son of Jabez Perry, gol ...

, Assistant Surveyor General was sent to resurvey the site for urban settlement. The nucleus of the township was laid out on the grid plan regulations adopted by

Ralph Darling General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH (1772 – 2 April 1858) was a British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831. He is popularly described as a tyrant, accused of torturing prisoners and banning theatrical entertai ...

, Governor of New South Wales. It was Captain Perry who renamed the town "Dalby". The first official land sales occurred in April 1857. By 1855, the Dalby Police District had been declared with a Chief Constable and a court of Petty Sessions. The Town of Dalby was proclaimed a municipality in 1863 by Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. Joy ...

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

. The new municipality had a Town Council of six, led by Mayor Frederick Roche. Dalby's first town hall and council offices stood on a Reserve in Scarlett Street. The area also included a Reserve for a School of Arts. In 1889 this building was destroyed by fire. The Council moved again, only to have the building destroyed by fire in 1909. Following the fire, the Council relocated to new premises in Marble Street. This was a dual purpose building combining the Council Chambers and the town clerk's residence. During this time, the School of Arts branch of the Council had moved to the corner of Cunningham and Stuart Streets. This area was becoming more popular with local businesses and, in 1930, following a fire which destroyed the School of Arts building, the third Council Chamber Offices were built on the site. The old Marble Street office was removed to Kaimkillenbun where it was altered and renovated to become the Roman Catholic Church of that district. The Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices were opened on Saturday 13 February 1932 by the Hon Arthur Edward Moore,

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

. The Mayor of Dalby at the time was Alderman Thomas Jack. Dalby's Town Clerk, Mr Thorley, acted voluntarily as Superintendent of works. The building incorporated a School of Arts. Insurance from the damage to the old School of Arts building helped to fund the construction of the new Council Chambers with the Dalby Town Council contributing to the overall cost of construction. As the Council had had problems with fire in the past, the new Chamber Offices included a

strong room A bank vault is a secure space where money, valuables, records, and documents are stored. It is intended to protect their contents from theft, unauthorized use, fire, natural disasters, and other threats, much like a safe. Unlike safes, vaults ...

which housed valuable books and records. Extensions to the School of Arts were opened by Premier Ned Hanlon on 16 November 1935. The building is no longer the seat of local government. It has previously been occupied by Education Queensland and the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

Northern School Support Centre. In 2016 it houses the Dalby Chamber of Commerce & Industry and other commercial tenants.

Description

The former Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices is a single storey rendered brick building on the corner of Cunningham and Stuart Streets and Groom Lane. The Cunningham Street section has a symmetrical facade with

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

detailing, consisting of a centrally located, projecting portico with a recessed entrance, flanked by three long, narrow casement windows surrounded by moulded

architraves In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can a ...

. Fluted pilasters are located on each side of the windows. The double, timber-panelled entrance doors have a breezeway with decorative

leadlight Leadlights, leaded lights or leaded windows are decorative windows made of small sections of glass supported in lead cames. The technique of creating windows using glass and lead came to be known as came glasswork. The term 'leadlight' could be ...

ing. Similar window and decorative detail continue along the Stuart Street facade, which is divided into ten bays by pilasters. The moulded

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

forms a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

in the centre of the facade with the Dalby Town Council's shield located at the centre of the gable. The south elevation (Groom Lane side) and the western elevation are face brick. Internally, the building comprises the highly intact, centrally located, former Council Chambers and extant strong room. The Council Chambers has a

parquet floor Parquet (; French for "a small compartment") is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect in flooring. Parquet patterns are often entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges—but may contain curves. T ...

, a timber dado on all four walls with timber screenings on the windows. A gap in the wall showing brickwork indicates where a plaque was located giving names of Dalby Council members. Changes have occurred to the other offices with the installation of screens to provide for office space, the ceiling has also been lowered. In the front office, which contains the original timber public counter, the ceiling is decorative plaster with decorative

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

are located in the office which contains the strong room. A brass plaque fixed to the wall commemorates the opening of the former Council Chambers by the Premier.

Heritage listing

The former Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices was listed on the

on 23 July 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The former Dalby Town Council Chambers is significant as it demonstrates the growth and development of Dalby and the surrounding area and the increasing self confidence placed in the town by the Council and by the local population. As the site of the School of Arts prior to the construction of the hall, and with the building housing a School of Arts when constructed, the place demonstrates the continued public use of the property for over 60 years. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The former Dalby Town Council Chambers, a brick and concrete rendered building, is significant as one of only about six buildings extant in Dalby dating from the early 1930s. Other buildings include the former Wambo Shire Council Chambers and the Dalby Fire Station, both of which have Georgian elements in their designs and the former Union Bank. Internally, contributing to its significance, the former meeting room of the Dalby Town Council remains highly intact with timber panelling and screening. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The former Dalby Town Council Chambers is significant as example of an interwar building with Art Deco elements especially the decorative moulded relief work. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. Located at the corner of Cunningham Street, the unpretentious yet elegant building provides an integral civic contribution to the streetscape. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Further, it held a long association with the people of Dalby and surrounding areas as a focal point for social, and community functions. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The former Dalby Town Council Chambers is significant for its association with the well-known Brisbane architectural firm, Hall and Phillips, in practice from 1929-1948.

Thomas Ramsay Hall Thomas Ramsay Hall (2 January 1879 – 15 December 1950) was an architect practicing in Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia an ...

had previously been in partnership with

George Gray Prentice George Gray Prentice (25 July 1891 – July 1944) was an architect practising in Brisbane, Australia, during the first half of the twentieth century and was involved in the design and construction of numerous major buildings in South East Que ...

as Hall and Prentice.

References

Attribution

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Dalby Town Council Chambers and Offices Queensland Heritage Register Dalby, Queensland Town halls in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register