The Warringah Shire Hall was an Australian municipal town hall located on Pittwater Road opposite Robert Street in Brookvale, a suburb of the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the en ...

of Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Initially built in 1910 as a Federation bungalow, the complex was expanded with the addition of "Shire Hall" in 1912, the final form was completed in 1923 with the addition of a second floor to a design by Trenchard Smith and Maisey. The Shire Hall was the seat of

Warringah Council Warringah Council was a local government area in the northern beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed on 7 March 1906 as the Warringah Shire Council, and became "Warringah Council" in 1993. In 19 ...

from 1910 to 1973, when the council moved to a new purpose-built

Civic Centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

on further down Pittwater Road in

Dee Why Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Be ...

. The Shire Hall survived amid uncertainty over its future but was eventually sold and demolished in 1978.

History

Council Chambers, 1910–1923

When Warringah Shire Council was formed in 1906, the Council first met in the Narrabeen Progress Hall on 14 June 1906, before moving to Brookvale. From March 1907 the Council leased "Smith's Hall" (later to be known as "Empire Hall") in West Street, Brookvale from Mr W. Smith to act as their council chambers. On 26 February 1910, a more permanent chambers was built on Pittwater Road, facing the land that would soon become

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval (also known by the commercial sponsorship name 4 Pines Park) is a sporting ground located within Brookvale Park at Brookvale, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by th ...

. The opening was conducted by Shire President Alexander Ralston and was attended by Dr. Richard Arthur, Member for Middle Harbour. This first Council Chambers was a small

Federation Bungalow Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the Australian colonies collectively became the Commonwealth of ...

style building which served both as council offices and the Shire Clerk's residence.

First Shire Hall, 1912–1923

In July 1912 the council commissioned architect James Campbell to design and build a larger Shire Hall, also in the Federation style, next to the council chambers building for the sum of £945. On 16 November 1912 the Shire Hall was officially opened by Shire President William Hews, with speeches on the occasion from Sir Granville Ryrie (Federal Member for Warringah), Dr. Richard Arthur MLA and Alderman

Ellison Quirk Ellison Wentworth Quirk (8 July 186616 November 1938) was a New South Wales politician, Alderman and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Warringah from 1901 to 1904. Early life Quirk was born in 1 ...

Second Shire Hall, 1923–1978

In 1923, the council commissioned the construction of a new Shire Hall to remodel the previous hall in a more modern style. The new Shire Hall was designed by Manly architects Frederick Trenchard Smith and Samuel Maisey (of the firm Trenchard Smith & Maisey) in an Inter-war Stripped Classical style with a much more imposing two-storey facade along Pittwater Road. Local builder H. E. Jackson was contracted for the construction of the new Shire Hall. One notable feature of the new Shire Hall facade was the inclusion of two concrete Doric-style fluted columns. The alterations, which were completed in 1926, were also notable in that it was one of the last construction projects in the greater Sydney area to use shell lime mortar. The revival design was very similar to Trenchard Smith & Maisey's later work in designing the new

Manly Town Hall The Manly Town Hall is a landmark civic building in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The building is located at the junction of The Corso, Gilbert Street and Belgrave Street, opposite Manly ferry wharf. Designed in the In ...

(1937). In 1928 Trenchard Smith & Maisey were again contracted to design and build various extensions and additions to the existing Shire Hall, including the council public office next door. On 1 September 1951, the Mackellar County Council was established, consisting of three representatives from Warringah Shire and three from Manly Municipality, and its technical offices were located in this new extension on Pittwater road.

Later history

By the late 1960s, council had recognised the inefficiencies of the Shire Hall and that it was far too small for the needs of the growing council and debate continued on the initiation of a new civic centre for the council. In December 1968, the Shire President Colin Huntingdon noted that "A new Shire Hall is so overdue it isn't funny. The staff are working in rabbit warrens which doesn't help efficiency." Brookvale remained the administrative centre for Warringah until 1971 when the council resolved to commence the construction of a new

in Dee Why. When the council eventually moved to the Civic Centre in 1973, the Shire Hall in Brookvale was threatened with demolition in the mid-1970s. Despite some calls for the historic hall to be saved and be used as a community centre, their efforts were to no avail and the hall was demolished in late 1978.

References