Northcote High St Town Hall Westbourne Gr face, 1982 folder 01, p 17-18 1429
Northcote Conservation study 1982 survey images: colour slides, black & white:.
`Part of the Bellevue Estate of 1884 was purchased for a town hall site at the corner of Westbourne Grove and High Street. Councillors, Bastings, Dennis, Wallis and Verso, paid £715 of their own.
money for the site, pending the achievement of a loan by the new Council..
The site was fenced during 1884-5, and the Council obtained temporary offices and a council.
chamber in the Wesleyan schoolroom..
Made more financial by the subdivision of the municipality’s broadacres, the council called for.
designs, in 1887, for a permanent town hall. Architects, Sydney W Smith, Fred Harrison, Alfred.
Dunn and George R Johnson submitted designs, the latter being successful due to recent triumphs.
with the Collingwood and Fitzroy Town Halls. Johnson’s design was described as overly expensive,.
but was gone ahead with, in part, as the first stage. A tower, similar to that at Collingwood, was.
omitted from the construction..
The Mayor, Cr Verso, laid the foundation stone in August, 1888, and presided over the first meeting.
at the hall in the future post office on the 4th of October, 1889. The post office, which attracted a.
$3,000 subsidy from the government, the court house and the council chamber, were completed by.
March 1891..
Tenders for the next stage of the works were accepted from J Potter (the first stage contractor) for.
£3,053. Within these works wee a public library (which became the Surveyor’s office), the town.
clerk’s office, the rate collector’s office and the mayor’s and magistrate’s rooms which opened off the.
municipal chambers, and the post and telegraph office in the north-east wing of the building..
The furnishings, like the building, were based on those at the Fitzroy Town Hall: three hundred.
Vienna chairs were ordered, two-thirds with walnut seats and the balance with blackwood. One.
armchair was to be made to match and Wallach’s obtained the commission. The councillors’ chairs.
were to be of walnut frames with leather upholstery..
In time, the space used as the town hall (originally designed as a supper room) proved too small and a.
descendant of the unsuccessful architectural competitors of 1887, Sydney Smith and Ogg, designed a.
new town hall in 1912. Mayor Cr B E Johnson laid the foundation stone in December, 1912. From.
the arcaded gallery facing Westbourne Grove, a large pedimented wing, with arcading at two levels,.
was extended to meet what was the Police Court..
Further work at the town hall included its redecoration in 1926 by J Ross Anderson, the original.
decorator of the 1890 stage. Harry Norris, the architect who had designed the Memorial Hall (qv),.
was called upon to rebuild the town hall lobby in 1930. Morrison Brothers were the builders and the.
work consisted of a new staircase and renovation of the space it served on two levels. The town hall.
interior was also refurbished, just twenty years after it was built..
V J Bradley, the city engineer, is said to have designed a lavish Jazz-Moderne inspired layer of.
fibrous plaster over the interior walls (probably designed by Norris). A reinforced concrete balcony.
for the orchestra was added at the west end: the proscenium was redesigned with recessed lighting.
and heavy velvet curtains; balconettes with floodlights within were attached to the walls and upward.
facing light fittings were placed at the base of new pilaster. Seven feet high, panelled dadoes of.
Queensland maple, which carpenters Kerr and Smith installed, were integrated with sunbursts and.
timber over-doors. Bronze finish metalwork pervaded and three large electroliers hung from.
octagonal plaster roses in the ceiling. The geometrically-shaped plaster work was by Clifton Hill executed by Northcote residents..
The decorative colour scheme comprised old ivory tints with gold leaf enrichments. Comparison.
may be drawn to the contemporary renovations undertaken at the Collingwood Town Hall, where.
Egyptian or Aztec-inspired colours picked out motifs against the old ivory. The decorative.
treatment, although a little thinly applied, is quite successful and remains an outstanding and original.
example of Moderne style plasterwork..
From the Victorian period, the former police court represents a fairly original interior; most others.
have been modified'
Northcote High St Town Hall Westbourne Gr face, 1982 folder 01, p 17-18 1429
Northcote Conservation study 1982 survey images: colour slides, black & white:.
`Part of the Bellevue Estate of 1884 was purchased for a town hall site at the corner of Westbourne Grove and High Street. Councillors, Bastings, Dennis, Wallis and Verso, paid £715 of their own.
money for the site, pending the achievement of a loan by the new Council..
The site was fenced during 1884-5, and the Council obtained temporary offices and a council.
chamber in the Wesleyan schoolroom..
Made more financial by the subdivision of the municipality’s broadacres, the council called for.
designs, in 1887, for a permanent town hall. Architects, Sydney W Smith, Fred Harrison, Alfred.
Dunn and George R Johnson submitted designs, the latter being successful due to recent triumphs.
with the Collingwood and Fitzroy Town Halls. Johnson’s design was described as overly expensive,.
but was gone ahead with, in part, as the first stage. A tower, similar to that at Collingwood, was.
omitted from the construction..
The Mayor, Cr Verso, laid the foundation stone in August, 1888, and presided over the first meeting.
at the hall in the future post office on the 4th of October, 1889. The post office, which attracted a.
$3,000 subsidy from the government, the court house and the council chamber, were completed by.
March 1891..
Tenders for the next stage of the works were accepted from J Potter (the first stage contractor) for.
£3,053. Within these works wee a public library (which became the Surveyor’s office), the town.
clerk’s office, the rate collector’s office and the mayor’s and magistrate’s rooms which opened off the.
municipal chambers, and the post and telegraph office in the north-east wing of the building..
The furnishings, like the building, were based on those at the Fitzroy Town Hall: three hundred.
Vienna chairs were ordered, two-thirds with walnut seats and the balance with blackwood. One.
armchair was to be made to match and Wallach’s obtained the commission. The councillors’ chairs.
were to be of walnut frames with leather upholstery..
In time, the space used as the town hall (originally designed as a supper room) proved too small and a.
descendant of the unsuccessful architectural competitors of 1887, Sydney Smith and Ogg, designed a.
new town hall in 1912. Mayor Cr B E Johnson laid the foundation stone in December, 1912. From.
the arcaded gallery facing Westbourne Grove, a large pedimented wing, with arcading at two levels,.
was extended to meet what was the Police Court..
Further work at the town hall included its redecoration in 1926 by J Ross Anderson, the original.
decorator of the 1890 stage. Harry Norris, the architect who had designed the Memorial Hall (qv),.
was called upon to rebuild the town hall lobby in 1930. Morrison Brothers were the builders and the.
work consisted of a new staircase and renovation of the space it served on two levels. The town hall.
interior was also refurbished, just twenty years after it was built..
V J Bradley, the city engineer, is said to have designed a lavish Jazz-Moderne inspired layer of.
fibrous plaster over the interior walls (probably designed by Norris). A reinforced concrete balcony.
for the orchestra was added at the west end: the proscenium was redesigned with recessed lighting.
and heavy velvet curtains; balconettes with floodlights within were attached to the walls and upward.
facing light fittings were placed at the base of new pilaster. Seven feet high, panelled dadoes of.
Queensland maple, which carpenters Kerr and Smith installed, were integrated with sunbursts and.
timber over-doors. Bronze finish metalwork pervaded and three large electroliers hung from.
octagonal plaster roses in the ceiling. The geometrically-shaped plaster work was by Clifton Hill executed by Northcote residents..
The decorative colour scheme comprised old ivory tints with gold leaf enrichments. Comparison.
may be drawn to the contemporary renovations undertaken at the Collingwood Town Hall, where.
Egyptian or Aztec-inspired colours picked out motifs against the old ivory. The decorative.
treatment, although a little thinly applied, is quite successful and remains an outstanding and original.
example of Moderne style plasterwork..
From the Victorian period, the former police court represents a fairly original interior; most others.
have been modified'