Atherton Performing Arts Theatre is a heritage-listed former military depot and now theatre at 6 Silo Street, Atherton, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1943. It is also known as Atherton WWII Igloo. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 9 October 2015.
History The steel-framed "igloo" located in Silo Road, Atherton, currently used as a theatre by Atherton Performing Arts (APA) Inc., is an American Rolling Mill Company (ARMCO) hut, erected at the 13th Australian Advance Ordnance Depot at Tolga. Although the term "igloo" is widely used to describe any corrugated iron-clad building with a roof that forms a complete arch to the ground, in the Queensland context it has been more specifically applied to buildings with open-lattice box truss arches made of nailed hardwood timber. Although originally intended to be covered with camouflage netting and used as aircraft hideouts, in Queensland these igloos were sheeted with iron and used as warehouses, hangars, workshops and recreation halls.Howard Pearce, 2009, "WWIINQ: a cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II". Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, pp.73-4
In 1947 the igloo was purchased by the Atherton Tableland Maize Marketing Board and was moved to its current location for use as a workshop, and the neighbouring gabled-roof workshop building was probably built at this time. The buildings later functioned as an Atherton Shire Council Depot from to 1979, before the igloo was refurbished as a theatre in 1982–83. The igloo is rare surviving built evidence of an important military facility, and helps demonstrate the impact of World War II (WWII) on the Atherton Tablelands, when the area was a major training and rest and rehabilitation centre for the Australian Imperial Force during the Pacific Campaign of World War II (WWII). The igloo's original steel segmented-arch frame is also a rare surviving wartime example of its type.
Atherton, the main centre on the Tablelands, was originally known as Prior's Pocket after Thomas Prior, a timber getter who was the first European to camp there permanently. The town, surveyed in 1885, was a staging post for Cobb and Co. coaches between the tin fields of Herberton (established 1880) and Port Douglas, and the Tablelands railway arrived from Cairns in 1903.'Barron Valley Hotel', QHR 602587. Although timber drew many settlers to the area, the maize industry opened up the Atherton Tablelands to agriculture, and was the dominant agricultural industry of the southern Atherton Tablelands up until WWII. Chinese settlers were instrumental in setting up the industry during the late 19th century, but with the inception of the Soldier Settler Scheme in 1917, they were displaced by European farmers.
The Atherton Tableland Maize Board was constituted on 31 August 1923 under the Primary Products' Pools Act 1922.Queensland State Archives Agency ID10965, "Atherton Tableland Maize Marketing Board". In 1924, the board erected three storage cluster silo complexes at Kairi, Tolga and Atherton (the latter included a drying plant); but only the Kairi Maize Silos survive. Despite the silos, the industry struggled. The state of the industry improved somewhat when the Maize Board in 1936 began manufacturing poultry rations, and the "Athmaize" brand of stock and poultry feeds was introduced. Newspaper articles also refer to "Athmaze". In 1993, due to deregulation of the maize industry, the Board was dissolved and its assets and liabilities were transferred to the Athmaize Producers' Cooperative Association on 1 March 1994. Athmaize went into liquidation in 2002. The maize industry continues as a small section of the local economy, and dairy farming is now Atherton's main industry.
The Atherton Tablelands was disrupted by a massive influx of military forces during WWII. United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) units were based at Mareeba from mid-1942, along with a US hospital and US Anti-Aircraft units.Vera Bradley, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, Boolarong Press, Moorooka, p. 409 During 1943 USAAF units at Mareeba airfield were replaced with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) units. From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands, and the main administrative base was established around Atherton and the nearby settlement of Tolga. The Headquarters of the 1st Australian Army was in Atherton, and the HQ of 1st Australian Corps was at Tolga.Bradley, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, pp. 409–410 The terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated. The Atherton Tablelands was chosen for this purpose as it was close to New Guinea, near the port of Cairns, was suitable for jungle warfare training, and was mostly malaria-free.
The troops resting and training on the Tablelands had to be housed and supplied, and so, as an important part of Australian wartime strategy, a huge schedule of construction work (the "Atherton Project") commenced, to accommodate units from the 6th and 7th Divisions of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) returning from New Guinea - and the 9th Division (AIF) returning from the Middle East – plus other fighting units. The project constructed tent encampments, hutments, mess kitchens, hospitals and storage sheds, under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC), Australian Army General Hospitals were established at Rocky Creek, north of Tolga, In addition, a RAAF Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) Radar Station operated from Bones Knob, west of Tolga. which formed in February 1942 to co-ordinate and facilitate the needs of Australian and US military forces in Australia during the war. The AWC's work on defence projects in Queensland, including roads and airfields, was carried out by US Army engineers, the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC), and contractors drawing on conscripted civilian labour from the Civil Constructional Corps (CCC), established in April 1942.Pearce, "WWIINQ", p. 59.
Up to 100,000 troops were present on the Tablelands. Units of the three AIF infantry divisions camped at Danbulla, Kairi, Millstream, Ravenshoe, Tinaroo, Wondecla and Wongabel between early 1943 and 1945, and all three divisions were on the Tablelands at one time in late 1944.PD Wilson, 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942-1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, p. 14Bradley, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, pp. 409–413Pearce, "WWIINQ" pp. 21–27 In Atherton, the Barron Valley Hotel briefly acted as a headquarters for General Thomas Blamey, commander-in-chief of the Australian Military Forces. An Australian Army cordial factory was also built in Atherton. This was moved to Hopkins Road, east of the rear of the theatre igloo, sometime after WWII, but it was demolished in 2006.Pearce, "WWIINQ", p.118 and in November 1943 a large timber-framed igloo warehouse (now the Merriland Hall) was erected at the Atherton Showground for the Australian Army Canteen Services (AACS). After WWII the warehouse became a community centre, was renamed Merriland Hall, and was used by the Atherton Choral Society and the Atherton Players, amongst others.
The igloo now at Atherton was constructed as part of the 13th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (13 AAOD) at Tolga, the largest Australian Army storage and repair centre on the Tablelands. Built to supply equipment and weapons to the troops, 13 AAOD was established on the west side of Tolga early in 1943. It was located north of Griffin Road and either side of Tate Road. The AWC also built Ordnance workshops for the Australian Army at Brisbane, Toowoomba, Townsville, Charters Towers and Baronta.National Archives of Australia, Series BP262/2 Control Symbol 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland and Northern Territory 1944-45, "Appendix A, List of principal projects in Queensland," p. 3 In February 1943, a schedule of Atherton Tablelands projects included ten "ARMCO huts" at Tolga.NAA Series A5954, Control Symbol 286/3, Atherton Tableland Base Area, 14/12/42 - 23/11/44,'Appendix E. Schedule, Atherton Tableland Projects No other ARMCO huts of this type seem to have been erected by the Allied Works Council in Queensland; the three ARMCO ammunition stores ordered for Queerah (Cairns) in 1943 were most likely of a different type. According to a report on an October 1944 visit to 13 AAOD by the Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee, by then the installation consisted of about 170 buildings, including 18 large igloo stores about . The unit that supervised work on the AACS igloo in Atherton, the 54th Australian Deputy Commander Royal Engineers (Works), also constructed the large timber framed igloos at 13 AAOD at Tolga, the AACS igloo, 13 AAOD igloos, 10 steel-framed ARMCO buildings and 22 steel-framed Sidney Williams buildings.NAA, Series BP262/2 Control Symbol 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland and Northern Territory 1944-45, "Memorandum, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee. Record of proceedings in Queensland, 5th October 1944 - 13th October 1944", p. 25 However, a 1944 plan of 13 AAOD shows 16 buildings ; with the other two being about .NAA FOLDER T FOLIO 31, Tolga - N'Q'land A.O.D. and A.E.M.E. Installations, 1944 The location and size of these 18 large igloos is confirmed in a post-war aerial photograph of the site .QAP21-94, dated 14.8.1949, DNRM There also appears to be 10 concrete slabs of about in the aerial photo (in the Returned Stores Depot and Ordnance areas), which match the size of the 10 ARMCO igloos.
13 AAOD was divided into four depots, including a Returned Stores Depot (RSD).13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot', Queensland WWII Historic PlacesBradley, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, p.279. It also included a salvage area, a vehicle park; and workshops.NAA FOLDER T FOLIO 31. Tolga - N'Q'land A.O.D. and A.E.M.E. Installations, 1944 Units at 13 AAOD included 5 Australian RSD, 1 Australian Advanced Workshop Salvage Unit, 7 Australian Ordnance Vehicle Park, 3 Australian Advanced Base Workshop Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEME), 124 Australian Forward Ordnance Depot, and 73 Australian Field Ammunition Depot.Bradley, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, pp. 279–80, 409, 414NAA Series A5954, Control Symbol 286/3, Atherton Tableland Base Area, 14/12/42 - 23/11/44, "Appendix A, Funds approved for Atherton Area" Just to the north was 7 Australian Advanced Ammunition Depot.NAA, FOLDER T FOLIO 32. Tolga - Field Ammunition Depot, 1944Bradley, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939-1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, p.280.