Leederville Town Hall & Recreation Complex

Child Places

• 23872 Leederville War Memorial and Rose Garden
• 23872 Leederville War Memorial and Rose Garden

Statement of Significance

The following statement has been taken from the State Register Entry for Place 2195 prepared in 2003.

Leederville Town Hall & Recreation Complex, a pair of single storey classically planned face brickwork, stucco walls and Colorbond custom orb roof buildings in the Federation Free Classical style, together with a rough hewn granite obelisk memorial with sculpted marble lions, memorial rose garden, bowling greens, and mature trees and setting, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

the place is a fine example of two successive buildings designed in the Federation Free Classical Style architecture;

the bowling greens, established in 1906, are one of the oldest bowling greens in Western Australia still operating on their original site;

the place was designed by A. E. Clarke, a prominent architect in Victoria and Western Australia, and built by well-known local builder, W. H. Roberts;

the place has social value to the community of the immediate district of West Leederville, and the wider community, through its continuous use since 1904;

the place is a civic landmark in the largely residential environment of West Leederville, and the palms flanking the monument are a distinctive element in the vicinity;

the Leederville War Memorial was designed by Pietro Porcelli, the first local sculptor in Western Australia to be noted for public artwork; and,

the place is representative of the development and rapid growth of Leederville in the pre-World War One period; and marks a phase in the establishment of municipal buildings in the suburb.

The bowling clubrooms, the 1955 addition to the rear of the bowling clubrooms, the 1955 addition to the rear of the hall, and the landscape treatments immediately around the west, north and east sides of the hall are of little significance. The hard landscaped area in front of the hall is intrusive.

Physical Description

architectural style. The two buildings are of brick construction finished with tuckpointing to the facades and face brick to the side elevations. Both facades are enlivened by rendered elements, painted in bright white, including pilasters, fascias, pediments, window sills and decorative motifs. Both buildings are of similar design, each incorporating a central entrance flanked by windows.

For the main hall, the entry consists of double timber doors with segmented arch fanlight, flanked by rendered pillars and has the word ‘HALL’ above the entry. The entry to the second hall, which is set back behind the main building, is of similar design albeit the actual entrance doors are to the rear of the covered entry which is secured by metal gates, this entrance is not as ornate as the main entrance but the similarity of design can be seen in the two. Windows are timber framed sashes to both buildings. Brick additions have been added to both buildings but these cannot be seen in the street view. The roofs to the halls are both hipped with gablets to the street elevation, both obscured from clear view at street level due to the parapet walls across the facades. The roofs are clad in a green/grey Colorbond.

Leederville Town Hall is located within a park setting with Holyrood Park to the west, the Memorial Garden to the east and the bowling club to the north.

The bowling club is located to the rear of the War Memorial Gardens. The clubhouse is an unassuming single storey structure of pale brick construction with colorbond roof. The building footprint has not been enlarged since it was originally constructed in the early 1960s with the only visible alterations from the street frontage being the recladding of the roof and the addition of the ramped access.

The façade has two distinct characters: to the east of the main entrance, the windows are placed in a regular rhythm with five openings between the door and the end of the building. Each window consists of a large fixed pane window with three highlight windows above. To the west of the main entrance, the façade consists of an irregular placement of windows and doors of differing styles and dimensions. The characters reflect the different uses of the internal spaces. The name “LEEDERVILLE SPORTING CLUB” has been placed above the eastern windows of the façade.

The bowling greens are laid out to the side and rear of the building.

History

The Leederville Town Hall and its adjunct, Lesser hall, were built in two stages in the early 20th century.

In 1904 when the town of Leederville was expanding as a suburb of Perth. A new hall was built to meet the needs of the district. An item in the local press at the opening ceremony in September 1904 stated that the buildings, the main hall and lesser hall cost £1200. The architect was Wallace Watkins, builder Alfred Wilks and decorator Albert Card. Funds for the building were supplied by the Excelsior Masonic Lodge and Sir Walter Scott Lodge. At the time of construction efforts were made to install 'the very best floor for dancing' and the lighting installed was the 'Kitson' Light. The main hall could seat approximately 500 and the lesser hall or supper room approximately 150. The hall was used for a wide variety of functions for the Leederville community.

Plans for a bowling green and a croquet lawn were an early initiative and in November 1905, the newly laid greens and lawn were opened by MLA Henry Daglish and his wife Edith Daglish following the first meeting of the club in July 1905.
In 1914, a new hall was built adjoining the Masonic Hall. The completion of the hall coincided with the amalgamation of the Municipalities of Leederville and North Perth within the City of Perth.

The new Town Hall was opened by the Governor on 19 September 1914. A description of the hall in the local press described the hall as follows:
"The hall is a substantially built brick structure containing a public hall of fine dimensions, 72ft x 45ft with seating accommodation for 600 persons. The end is temporarily enclosed so as to be easily extended with a view to the future extension of the stage accommodation. The entrance from Cambridge Street is 10ft wide with an ante-room on each side 16ft 9ins x 12ft and over the entrance is a fire proof lantern operating room. At the rear of the hall are two dressing rooms and also means of connecting with the old existing Masonic Hall, the back of which can be used as a supper room in connection with the new hall. The old Masonic Hall has been altered internally and is now used for municipal offices. The Town Clerk's room is 18ft x 12ft, health officer 12ft x 10ft, general office 35ft x 25ft and having a large strong room, public counter, etc. At the back of the offices is the municipal council chamber 35ft x 22ft 6in, with an ante-room adjoining."

This larger portion of the Leederville Town Hall was built by well-known local builder, W. H. Roberts and designed by A. E. Clarke, a prominent architect in Victoria who emigrated to Western Australia in the late 1890s.

From the available information the remaining structure consists of the original Masonic Hall (1904) on the east, set back from Cambridge Street and the larger town hall (1914) built closer to Cambridge Street.

In 1954, the floor in the main hall was replaced with a wandoo timber floor taken from the UWA ballroom as the existing floor was worn from the many dances held in the venue.

The Caretaker of the place during most of the inter-war period and through World War Two was Mr Haimes, and the Caretaker’s Residence was built on the western side of the main hall to accommodate him and his family in 1924. This is now the location of the No.86 Youth Centre.

The bowling club was the first sporting facility established on the site and was developed in association with the Excelsior Masonic Lodge, occupiers of the Masonic Hall. Over the years the bowling green has been extended to occupy the ground of the former tennis courts, picture gardens and the original croquet lawn. The current club rooms on the site were built c1959 and continue to be well patronised by the community.

In 1980, Leederville Bowling Club incorporated with other local sporting clubs to become Leederville Sporting Club Inc. The Leederville Bowling club was one of the earliest clubs established in Western Australia.

The Fallen Soldier’s Memorial was designed and executed in 1924 by Pietro Porcelli, Western Australia’s first local sculptor, who arrived in Australia in 1898. The gardens surrounding the memorial have been slowly established since the 1990s.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High
Authenticity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.