Toowoomba City Hall is a heritage-listed town hall at 541 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Willoughby Powell and built in 1900 by Alexander Mayne. It is also known as Toowoomba Town Hall. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
It is the third town hall in Toowoomba and the building was the location for the proclamation that Toowoomba was a city and was the first purpose built city hall ever constructed in Queensland.
History Toowoomba City Hall, the city's third town hall, was built in 1900 to a design by Willoughby Powell on the site of the School of Arts. When first constructed, City Hall incorporated municipal offices and council chambers, rooms for a school of arts, a technical college and public hall.
The first settlement in the Toowoomba area was established on the present site of Drayton in 1842, and a mail service commenced in December 1845. A survey of Drayton in 1850, the third to be carried out, followed a severe drought at the end of the 1840s which taxed Drayton's water supply. This shortage prompted many residents to consider moving to the Drayton Swamp Agricultural Area (The Swamp), where water was plentiful.
In 1853 a survey of the swamp area was carried out and land sales took place in November in the same year. The Swamp was subsequently named Toowoomba in 1858. On 30 June 1860, a petition by Toowoomba residents seeking incorporation as a municipality was successful and proclamation of the Borough of Toowoomba occurred on 24 November 1860. Local government was established in November 1860, and elections were held in January 1861. One of the first projects undertaken was the construction of a town hall in James Street. Tenders were called in 1861 and a simple timber structure was built by Frederick Stein and completed in January 1862.City Hall
In July 1865 the first section on railway line in Queensland was opened to Ipswich and by April 1867 the line reached Toowoomba, securing the town's future development. The 1860s saw the rapid expansion of Toowoomba with the founding of the Toowoomba Chronicle; the establishment of the first banking business, the construction of a gaol, the opening of the School of Arts and a Court House. The 1870s witnessed the opening of the Toowoomba Grammar School, the commencement of the Toowoomba Foundry, the draining of the swamps and the commencement of waterworks. In 1887 Toowoomba was proclaimed a town.
The first town hall was a timber building, which was demolished and replaced in 1881 by a brick building.
As Toowoomba developed as the leading centre of the Darling Downs and surrounding areas, the prosperity was translated into impressive commercial and residential structures. The Council decided a new town hall was necessary and the first town hall was demolished and the new brick building, designed by Sydney architect Albert Myers, opened in 1880.Toowoomba City Hall – Historic buildings No. 4 The land on which the second town hall was built was later sold to the State Government who built the South Toowoomba Boys' School on the site in 1906.
When the second town hall was constructed, the form of Toowoomba as a town had not been firmly established, in particular the town centre was not well defined. Commercial activities tended to focus on the lower end of Russell Street, near the Toowoomba railway station, while government activities centred on the courthouse in Margaret Street, north-east of the town hall. By the 1890s it was evident that neither government or commercial activities were interested in moving. As a result of the increasing isolation of the town hall from the commercial centre, the Council began examining the feasibility of building another town hall in a more central location. A major problem was the acquisition of a suitable block of land, which, by this stage, would have meant considerable expense for the Council. A proposal that a new hall be built on the site of the School of Arts in Ruthven Street, a site acquired by the Toowoomba Council in 1887, was rejected on the basis that such an action would involve building a new School of Arts. Later, however, when the School of Arts building was badly damaged by a fire on 21 June 1898, the proposal to build a new town hall on the site was again raised in a Council meeting and the motion was approved.
Prior to acquiring the site in Ruthven Street, the Council proceeded with a competition, with a prize of 30 guineas, for the design of a new town hall. Following approval to build a hall, a sub-committee examined the entries and recommended that William Hodgen be awarded first prize. However, Toowoomba Municipal Council Minutes from 3 October 1898 report that the recommendation was rejected. A new competition, with a prize of 25 guineas, was announced. Five entries were received and first prize was awarded to Willoughby Powell for his design entitled "Sincerity".
Willoughby Powell was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England and died in Queensland in 1920. Powell emigrated to Australia in 1872 and worked for Brisbane architect Richard Gailey before joining the Queensland Public Works Department as a draftsman in 1874. From 1875 to 1877 he maintained a busy practice in Toowoomba, later claiming to have erected "the majority of the principal buildings" there and in the surrounding district. Powell was eventually appointed to the permanent staff of the Works Department in 1899. Powell had to give up supervision of the construction of the Toowoomba Town Hall to Toowoomba architects, James Marks and Son, to receive his permanent appointment. Some of Powell's designs in the Toowoomba area include Toowoomba Grammar School buildings and master's residence in 1875; Jewish Synagogue, corner Herries and Neil Streets (1875–1876); Gabbinbar for Rev. William Lambie Nelson (1876) and additions to Clifford House for the Hon. James Taylor in and the Warwick Town Hall. In its exterior form, Toowoomba Town Hall is similar to the smaller and less elaborately decorated Warwick Town Hall, built of sandstone in the late 1880s.
Alexander Mayne's tender of £6440 was accepted on 22 November 1899, and on 20 February 1900, the foundation stone was laid by His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor of Queensland, Sir Samuel Griffith. Officially opened by the Mayor of Toowoomba, Alderman Matthew Keefe, on 12 December 1900, Toowoomba Town Hall was originally divided into three parts.
The School of Arts and Technical College on the first floor included class rooms and a committee room at the southern end, a large reading room opening out to the first floor balcony and a ladies' reading room and another class room at the northern end. A corridor led to another classroom and the library located towards the western side on the first floor. The public hall or theatre was at the western end of the building. There were a number of entrances to the gallery including a ground floor lobby and staircase on the northern wall of the building.
Contemporary publications describe the Hall as:"a spacious hall ten feet in width, and running right through to the theatre...on the ground floor are the municipal offices, those on the right being occupied by the Town Clerk and the Mayor. On the left hand side...comes the Rate Collector's Office and another for the Town Engineer....the Municipal Chamber...in finish and appointments...is very fine...The ceiling is particularly artistic, being stamped metal and picked out in soft and suitable colours"."Ascending the grand staircase...here [upper storey] are located the suite of rooms for the School of Arts and Technical College...Four rooms are provided for Technical College purposes, one being a particularly large classroom...the theatre [at the western end of the building]...carries 231 reserved stall seats, 108 second stall seats and 450 seats in the pit...The auditorium is a very handsome piece of work, being of stamped metal...underneath the stage are the dressing rooms."There are a number of fireplaces located on the ground floor in the Council Chambers and in other offices, and on the upper level in the reading rooms and the committee room.
The original plans for the building did not provide for a public clock and the tower was planned as a much lower structure with a spire. During construction of the building, the matter of installing a clock was raised, and at the council meeting of 4 June 1900 it was decided that a clock should be imported from England. The turret clock was installed in the early 1900s at a cost of about £400. It was made by Gillett and Johnston, still one of Britain's great turret clock manufacturers. Its installation remains a monument to Toowoomba watchmaker Mr H. Walker, who for many years conducted business as Henry Walker and Son Ltd in Ruthven Street almost opposite Bell Street. S.S. Devonshire is believed to be the ship which brought the clock and bells to Australia. On one of the two bells that chime the quarter hour, the words S.S. Devonshire can still be seen.
After its construction in 1900, City Hall was the venue for many uses. For more than sixty years the main administrative functions of the Toowoomba City Council were located in the hall. It has been an important venue for educational activities and housed for over 50 years, Toowoomba's main lending library. Situated on the first floor, the library began as the School of Arts Library.
A School of Arts committee was established in Toowoomba in the late 1850s, and the first School of Arts was erected in 1861 on land donated by Arthur Hodgson. This was the same site on which City Hall was erected in 1900. According to Toowoomba City Council records, a second and more substantial building was erected in 1877. This was the building that was demolished following a fire in 1898, to make way for the new town hall. For over 20 years, the library was well patronised, however, by the 1930s, the School of Arts committee began to have difficulties maintaining the collection. Lack of government funding, the growth of local circulation libraries and a diminishing number of subscribers added to the problems. Eventually, the library was taken over by the city council and remained in the hall until 1951. The School of Arts also conducted classes in technical and general education, one of the few avenues available to those wishing to pursue higher education. The hall was the venue for technical education for more than a decade. As the number of students increased, accommodation became a serious concern. In 1911, a purpose-built technical college (the Toowoomba Technical College) was erected in Margaret Street and the Queensland Government assumed responsibility for technical education from the School of Arts committee.
Added to City Hall's municipal and educational events, were the cultural and social events, which have been one of the building's most enduring functions. Such activities included public meetings, concerts and other musical events, drama and even sporting events, such as boxing and wrestling. Over time different requirements and standards have resulted in various alterations and additions to the building. The theatre has undergone more changes than any other part of the building. Prior to renovations in the 1940s, the raked floor and fixed seating of the auditorium limited its use. Whenever there was an audience facing the stage, the gentle fall was not a problem; however, it could not be used for dances or balls.