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Hamilton Town Hall is a heritage-listed former
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
at 36-42 Racecourse Road,
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
,
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 , established_ ...
, Australia. It was designed by Montague Talbot Stanley and built from 1919 to 1920. 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. As a ...
on 6 April 2005.


History

The Hamilton Town Hall, a single-storey brick building comprising council chambers and public hall, was erected in 1920 for the Hamilton Town Council. It was designed by Montague Talbot Stanley, and is one eight remaining town halls from the twenty that were built prior to the formation of
Greater Brisbane South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. ...
in 1925. When
Moreton Bay Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
was opened for free settlement in 1842, local government was controlled from Sydney, using British Imperial Government policy. The Municipality of Brisbane was not proclaimed until 1859, and the first council was elected in the same year. As settlements sprang up around Brisbane a desire for separate municipality status developed, and in 1879 the Divisional Boards Act provided for a number of new autonomous authorities adjacent to Brisbane. By 1891, 21 local authorities had been created in the Brisbane metropolitan area under this legislation. These consisted of the
City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...
as well as a municipality, shires, divisions, and one borough. In 1890, the
Hamilton Division Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
separated from
Toombul Division #REDIRECT Shire of Toombul The Shire of Toombul was a local government areas of Queensland, local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in northern Brisbane from 1883 to 1925. History The Nundah Division was one of the original divis ...
, although the Hamilton Divisional Board initially conducted its business from the Toombul Divisional Board Offices.
Andrew Petrie Andrew Petrie (1798 - 20 February 1872) was a pioneer, architect and builder in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Early life Andrew Petrie was born in Fife, Scotland. He trained as a builder in Edinburgh. He married Mary Cuthbertson in 1821. ...
was appointed the first chairman. The board became a Town Council in 1904 and the first mayor was John Brett Charlton. In 1917 the council purchased (approximately 1600 square metres) of land in Racecourse Road with the intention of building council chambers and a public hall. In 1919 plans and specifications for the new building were received from Montague Stanley, son of
Francis Drummond Greville Stanley Francis Drummond Greville Stanley (1839—1897) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. He was the Queensland Colonial Architect. Many of his designs are now heritage-listed buildings. Early life Stanley was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on ...
, the well-known
Queensland Colonial Architect The Queensland Government Architect is a position within the public service of Queensland, Australia with responsibility for the design of government buildings in Queensland. It was formerly known as the Queensland Colonial Architect. The position ...
. At a special meeting, amendments were made, including a wider front door and the use of Australian manufactured materials. A tender from Messrs McArthur & Walker for was accepted and the current mayor Alderman George Rees laid the foundation stone on 26 September 1919. Extra walling and iron railing with a double gate along Racecourse Road was added to the plan and the building was completed in 1920 for a cost of . The town hall accommodated council officers as well as providing council chambers and a public hall. There were a kitchen and a strong room, but it is not known if the supper room was constructed at this time. An honour board for local residents who had contributed to
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
was erected in the council offices. With rapid population increases, small local governments found it ever more difficult to fund and administer their responsibilities effectively and economically. The development of services such as roads, transport, water supply and sewerage could only be efficiently managed by an overarching authority. A move to amalgamate local authorities began in 1902 when the
Booroodabin Division Booroodabin Division is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in inner northern Brisbane immediately north of the Brisbane CBD today. It existed from 1879 to 1903. History Booroodabin Division came into existence on ...
was absorbed into the
City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...
. The idea of amalgamation was promoted throughout the 1900s and culminated in the City of Brisbane Act of 1924, when Hamilton was one of the towns and shires who joined to form the Brisbane City Council. The first Greater Brisbane Council was elected on 21 February 1925 and the Hamilton Town Council was disbanded. The Hamilton Town Hall then became the property of the Brisbane City Council and since that time has had various uses. During 1925–1926 it is recorded as a council depot in the Post Office directories. From 1927 it was known as the School of Arts and provided a venue for social events. The building was headquarters for the Australian Army Survey Corps during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. After the war, major alterations were made to the council chambers to create the Hamilton Municipal Library. The hall continued to be used for various social activities. Additions were made to the northern end of the hall in 1973 to accommodate the mobile library service. Further changes in 1987 included alterations to the dressing room and a covered walkway between the Supper Room and the hall. The former town hall still houses the city council's Hamilton library and it is used by an amateur theatrical group and by other local groups for meetings and social activities. Though its use as a venue for functions and gatherings and as a local library, the building has long associations with the cultural and social life of the area.


Description

The former Hamilton Town Hall is on a corner block, with the entrance to the library from Racecourse Road and the entrance to the hall from Rossiter Parade. It consists of a series of linked single-storey structures comprising the original brick main building (hall and library), a timber supper room, and the 1973 brick annexe. The main building is a load-bearing face brick structure with a timber-framed floor and a timber-framed
terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
tiled roof. Externally the building features English-bond face brickwork contrasted by a rendered base, string courses and
entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
. Both street elevations are emphasized by a
pedimented Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pediment ...
frontispiece. The original
balustraded A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
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'). Whe ...
is now missing, as are the metal palisades and gates to both street alignments.


Library (formerly council chambers)

The entrance to the library consists of a vestibule with Art Nouveau-styled leaded glass windows and
tessellated A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to higher dimensions and a variety of ...
/ encaustic floor tiles. Some floor tiles are replicas laid down in 2004. Only a small section of the border pattern consists of the original tiles, the others being specially made replicas laid in 2004. Panels in the French doors opening into the library and sections on either side of the doors are all matching
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 ...
. Internally, the Library has been substantially altered by the removal of walls and doorways. However, the " Reliance"
strongroom 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 a ...
with steel doors remains in working order. The main windows to both street facades are original Diocletian windows and sashes. The interior features shallow coffered ceilings with plaster
rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
. Picture rails remain in some rooms, and the section of the library with the strongroom is half paneled. The original open
verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...
to the north of the library has been unsympathetically enclosed with timber boarding and glass louvres.


Hall and Supper Room

The hall, across the rear of the library, is much more intact and features a fibrous plaster ceiling with coffered timber beams. Two large roof ventilators are built into the hall roof. The supper room is a small single-storey timber-framed
weatherboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
-clad structure with a timber floor close to the ground, paired casement windows, and a
gabled 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 ...
corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a ...
roof. Internally, the supper room is an open space with cupboards and a sink underneath the windows at the rear of the room. It is linked to the hall by a dressing room, and a recently constructed covered walkway (without heritage significance) incorporating ornate timber detailing which is neither original nor authentic and has unsympathetically altered two of the original large hall windows.


Annexe

The Mobile Library Service Annexe is a modern cavity brick concrete slab on ground structure with a tiled roof. The building in its scale, form, materials and detailing are all unsympathetic to the main building to which it is attached. It is not considered to have any heritage significance.


Heritage listing

Hamilton Town Hall was listed on 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. As a ...
on 6 April 2005 having satisfied the following criteria. ;The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.: Hamilton Town Hall is important in demonstrating the pattern of Brisbane's development, in particular the construction of civic buildings for the local authorities that predated the formation of the Brisbane City Council in 1925. It is important for its association with the development of the Hamilton district, and is evidence for its growth and prosperity in the early twentieth century. ;The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.: Hamilton Town Hall is important as a good example a town hall of the Interwar period. ;The place is important because of its aesthetic significance.: As a handsome and well-composed public building on a prominent site, Hamilton Town Hall is important for its landmark quality and its formal two-street facade makes a substantial contribution to the character of the area. ;The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.: Hamilton Town Hall is important to the community. The building has social significance as a centrally located civic building which has been a focal point for social and community functions for over eighty years.


References


Attribution


External links

{{Commons category-inline, Hamilton Town Hall, Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register Heritage of Brisbane Hamilton, Queensland Town halls in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register 1920 establishments in Australia