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YARRAWONGA SHIRE HALL
100 BELMORE STREET YARRAWONGA, MOIRA SHIRE
YARRAWONGA SHIRE HALL
100 BELMORE STREET YARRAWONGA, MOIRA SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Yarrawonga Shire Hall, a substantial town hall with a rendered brick two-storey administrative building with a clock tower and adjoining red brick auditorium with a fly tower, designed by Harrison & Glaskin and constructed in 1930. It also includes early interior features and objects integral to the council chamber.
How is it significant?
The Yarrawonga Shire Hall is of historical and architectural significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the VHR:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion D
Importance in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural places and objects
Why is it significant?
The Yarrawonga Shire Hall is historically significant as a reflection of continued growth and prosperity in towns across Victoria during the interwar years, despite the social and economic repercussions of the First World War and the Great Depression. It also demonstrates changing values in civic planning during the interwar years, which focused on consolidating municipal and community services under the one roof. [Criterion A]
The Yarrawonga Shire Hall is architecturally significant as a fine and highly intact example of an interwar town hall, built to an impressive scale on Belmore Street with highly decorated interior spaces. It exhibits a comparatively diverse combination of municipal and community services in its extant fabric which includes the council chamber with early painted signage and objects integral on the first floor, bio box and winding room, and expansive auditorium with opera pit, raised stage and a fly tower. It also retains many 1930s interior features including painted door signage to rooms on the first floor, elaborate plasterwork, and timber joinery in the public auditorium and first floor spaces, and war related honour boards. [Criterion D]
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YARRAWONGA SHIRE HALL - History
The formation of Yarrawonga Shire
The land comprising Yarrawonga township and its surrounds is on the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta people. The town and district were named in honour of the ‘Yarroweya’ pastoral run (later Yarrawonga Station) established in 1842.[1] From the 1840s until the introduction of the Land Act 1869, European settlers in the region were typically squatters or representatives of squatting families.[2]
The township of Yarrawonga was surveyed in 1868 and initially occupied four blocks bounded by Witt, Hume, Orr and Hovell Streets.[3] Land sales occurred from 1873, allowing free selectors to purchase much of the agricultural land surrounding the township. During Yarrawonga’s early years, major local industries included flour milling and sawmilling.[4]In 1871, Yarrawonga township became part of the newly established Shire of Echuca, an enormous municipal district comprising approximately 700,000ha. During the 1870s, the Shire of Echuca was progressively divided into smaller municipalities to streamline local governance. In 1878, the Shire of Yarrawonga was formed, and its primary town centres were Yarrawonga, Karrabumet (Lake Rowan), Katamatite, Mucatah and Hill Plain.[5] During this decade, early public buildings included the courthouse (1874), primary school (1876) and later the mechanics’ institute and free library (c.1882).
Yarrawonga township flourished during the late nineteenth century, with the arrival of the railway bringing tourists and new settlers. At this time, the Yarrawonga district became renowned for producing some of the highest quality wheat in Australia. By 1891, the wealth of Yarrawonga had grown to such an extent that the township decided to secede from the Shire of Yarrawonga. The Shire of North Yarrawonga was proclaimed in April 1891, reverting its name to the Shire of Yarrawonga just two years later. The Shire’s first municipal hall (still extant) was constructed in 1896 and comprised a two-storey red brick building with a portico and loggia facing Belmore Street. At this time, the population of Yarrawonga was at approximately 1,500 residents with the Shire’s population at just over 3,000.[6]Interwar town halls in Victoria
Despite the social and economic impacts of the First World War and the Great Depression, town halls continued to be remodelled and built throughout Victoria during the interwar years. During these years, emerging ideas and values in town planning focused on the consolidation of municipal and community facilities. New town halls were increasingly built to accommodate council offices and chambers under the same roof as a selection of public venues such as libraries, mechanics’ institutes, cultural centres, auditoriums, and cinemas, situated around picturesque gardens.[7] The specific combination varied between towns and suburbs, with full projection facilities for screening films becoming more popular from the late 1920s.[8]
In some instances, interwar town halls also served as the community’s war memorial. Although traditional forms of war memorials (for example, obelisks, plaques, statues and avenues of honour) prevailed in the years immediately following the First World War, functional war memorials increased in popularity during the 1920s.[9] One of the most common forms of functional war memorials built during the interwar years was the memorial hall, followed by Returned and Services League (RSL) halls and buildings, schools, and war service homes.[10]Yarrawonga Shire Hall
Following the First World War, Yarrawonga township commenced several public improvement works, beginning with the proposed construction of a new shire hall.[11] A site was chosen by Yarrawonga Shire Council in early 1929 – the premises of the Grove Picture Company at the corner of Belmore and Orr Streets. The site had a frontage of 99 feet to Belmore Street by a depth of 330 feet along Orr Street, extending eastwards to Hume Street.[12]Tenders were soon accepted for the design and construction of the new shire hall. The proposed design by the Albury-based architects Harrison & Glaskin was selected, with Mr J Keith and Mr Alfred Chappell chosen to commence building works. A block plan dated 1929 indicates the proposed footprint of the shire hall with a store yard and detached supper room to its east.[13] An article in the Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate extensively described the internal layout of the building with the mechanics’ institute, water trust and rate collectors’ offices on the ground floor; Council Chambers, strong room, and offices of the shire president, secretary and engineer on the first floor.
Construction of the shire hall was supported by a ‘judicious pooling of funds’ which included contributions from the council, the mechanics’ institute and an unconditional gift of almost £300 from the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA).[14] Although the opening ceremony of the shire hall was not held until 1931, performances and other public events were held in the auditorium from December 1930.[15] In 1931 a ‘talkie plant’ supplied by Vocaltone Pty Ltd was installed to facilitate the screening of talking pictures.
Competing financial pressures led to a delay in the shire hall’s completion, notably the installation of a clock and chimes in the tower. The Soldiers Memorial Clock was installed in 1937 at a cost of approximately £381 and was dedicated to district soldiers who had fallen in the First World War. The following year, a timber structure was erected on top of the clock tower to house the new chimes which were cast by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon, England.[16]From the 1930s, the auditorium in the shire hall was a popular venue for events such as performances, film screenings and dances. The catering of these events was supported by the detached timber supper room, which lay to the east of the shire hall building. Plans to replace the supper room emerged during the 1940s but it was not until 1958-59 that it was demolished and replaced with a new freestanding community hall (non-extant). The mid-century community hall was equipped with a commercial kitchen which played an important role in the civic and social events for residents of the Yarrawonga district.[17]
[1] Loughnan, A.N. (ed.), From Ballanda to 1968: the story of Yarrawonga, Yarrawonga Apex Club, 1968, p.7.
[2] Dunlop, A.J., Wide horizons: the story of Yarrawonga, Tungamah and Cobram shires, Imprint, 1978, p.35.
[3] ‘Yarrawonga and Yarrawonga Shire’, Victorian Places, https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/yarrawonga-and-yarrawonga-shire.
[4] Loughnan, 1968, pp.33-35.
[5] Dunlop, 1978, p.53.
[6] Heritage Alliance, Heritage Assessment: Yarrawonga Community Hall, May 2020.
[7] Lewi, H. and Jordan, C., ‘Commemorating and enhancing the everyday’ in Lewi, H and Nichols, D. (eds), Community: Building Modern Australia, UNSW Press, 2010, p.208.
[8] Heritage Matters, Jaffas down the aisles: a survey of cinemas in country Victoria, 2008, p.16.
[9] Inglis, K., Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape, Melbourne University Press, 1998, p131.
[10] Rowe, D., War-related heritage in Victoria, August 2011, pp.29-31.
[11] Dunlop, 1978, p.178.
[12] The Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate, 12 February 1929.
[13] PROV, VPRS 7882/P0001.
[14] The Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate, 9 July 1929; The Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate, 27 May 1930.
[15] The Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate, 16 December 1930.
[16] The Yarrawonga Chronicle and Riverina Advocate, 24 December 1937.
[17] Heritage Intelligence, Heritage Assessment: Yarrawonga Community Hall, May 2020, p.24.YARRAWONGA SHIRE HALL - Permit Exemptions
General Exemptions:General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions. Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.Specific Exemptions:Permit Exemptions
The following permit exemptions are not considered to cause harm to the cultural heritage significance of the Yarrawonga Shire Hall.
General
- Minor repairs and maintenance which replaces like with like. Repairs and maintenance must maximise protection and retention of fabric and include the conservation of existing details or elements. Any repairs and maintenance must not exacerbate the decay of fabric due to chemical incompatibility of new materials, obscure fabric or limit access to such fabric for future maintenance.
- Maintenance, repair and replacement of existing external services such as plumbing, electrical cabling, surveillance systems, pipes or fire services which does not involve changes in location or scale.
- Repair to, or removal of items such as antennae; aerials; and air conditioners and associated pipe work, ducting and wiring.
- Works or activities, including emergency stabilisation, necessary to secure safety in an emergency where a structure or part of a structure has been irreparably damaged or destabilised and poses a safety risk to its users or the public. The Executive Director must be notified within seven days of the commencement of these works or activities.
- Painting of previously painted external and internal surfaces in the same colour, finish and product type provided that preparation or painting does not remove all evidence of earlier paint finishes or schemes. This exemption does not apply to areas where there are specialist paint techniques such as graining, marbling, stencilling, hand-painting. murals or signwriting, or to wallpapered surfaces, or to unpainted, oiled or varnished surfaces.
- Cleaning including the removal of surface deposits by the use of low-pressure water (to maximum of 300 psi at the surface being cleaned) and neutral detergents and mild brushing and scrubbing with plastic (not wire) brushes.
- Works in accordance with the plans for the library development endorsed on 08/09/2022 relating to Planning Permit 5/2021/126 issued on 16 June 2021, where these works are located within the extent of registration.
Interiors
- Works to maintain or upgrade existing bathrooms and kitchens including installing new appliances.
- Installation, removal or replacement of carpets and/or flexible floor coverings, window furnishings, and devices for mounting wall hung artworks.
- Maintenance and repair of post-1990s light fixtures, tracks and the like.
- Installation, removal or replacement of existing electrical wiring. If wiring is currently exposed, it should remain exposed. If it is fully concealed it should remain fully concealed.
- Removal or replacement of post-1990s light switches or power outlets.
- Removal or replacement of smoke and fire detectors, alarms and the like, of the same size and in existing locations.
- Repair, removal or replacement of existing HVAC, ducted, hydronic, split system or concealed radiant type heating provided that any central plant is concealed, and that the work is done in a manner which does not alter building fabric.
- Installation of plant within the roof space, providing that it does not impact on the external appearance of the building or involve structural changes.
- Installation, removal or replacement of bulk insulation in the roof space.
Registered Objects Integral to the Registered Place (Shire president’s chair, Councillors’ chairs, Council meeting table, Shire secretary’s table, council chamber desk)
- The temporary relocation or movement of the above listed moveable Registered Objects Integral to the Registered Place within the buildings where they are currently located.
- Temporary external movement, relocation or loan of the above moveable Registered Objects Integral to the Registered Place to Australian or Victorian government cultural institutions which have materials conservation departments, where the activity is undertaken or supervised by qualified conservators, and performed in accordance with the accepted standards, policies and procedures of the borrowing organisation concerned. The Executive Director must be notified of all such activities and the before and after loan reports prepared by the materials conservation department of the government cultural institution must be forwarded to the Executive Director.
Clock and chimes
- Routine maintenance of the clock mechanism and associated chimes.
Landscape/ outdoor areas
Hard landscaping and services- Subsurface works to existing watering and drainage systems provided these are outside the canopy edge of trees and do not involve trenching in new locations. Existing lawns, gardens and hard landscaping, including paving, paths and roadways are to be returned to the original configuration and appearance on completion of works.
- Like for like repair and maintenance of existing hard landscaping including paving and footpaths where the materials, scale, form and design is unchanged.
- Removal or replacement of external directional signage provided the size, location and material remains the same.
- Installation of physical barriers or traps to enable vegetation protection and management of vermin such as rats, mice and possums.
Gardening, trees and plants- The processes of gardening including mowing, pruning, mulching, fertilising, removal of dead or diseased plants, disease and weed control and maintenance to care for existing plants.
- Removal of tree seedlings and suckers without the use of herbicides.
- Management and maintenance of trees including formative and remedial pruning, removal of deadwood and pest and disease control.
- Emergency tree works to maintain public safety provided the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria is notified within seven days of the removal or works occurring.
- Removal of environmental and noxious weeds.
Public garden area to the north of the Yarrawonga Shire Hall building
- Maintenance, removal and/or replacement of outdoor furniture.
Public toilets on Orr Street
- All internals works to the public toilets on Orr Street.
- Demolition of the public toilets on Orr Street.
YARRAWONGA SHIRE HALL - Permit Exemption Policy
Categories of works or activities (permit exemptions) recommended under section 38 (section 40(4)(b))
Introduction
The purpose of this information is to assist owners and other interested parties when considering or making decisions regarding works to a registered place. It is recommended that any proposed works be discussed with an officer of Heritage Victoria prior to making a permit application. Discussing proposed works will assist in answering questions the owner may have and aid any decisions regarding works to the place.
It is acknowledged that alterations and other works may be required to keep places and objects in good repair and adapt them for use into the future. However, under the Act a person must not knowingly, recklessly or negligently remove, relocate or demolish, damage or despoil, develop or alter or excavate all or any part of any part of a registered place without approval. It should be noted that the definition of ‘develop’ in the Act includes any works on, over or under the place.
If a person wishes to undertake works or activities in relation to a registered place or registered object, they must apply to the Executive Director for a permit. The purpose of a permit is to enable appropriate change to a place and to effectively manage adverse impacts on the cultural heritage significance of a place as a consequence of change. If an owner is uncertain whether a heritage permit is required, it is recommended that Heritage Victoria be contacted.
Permits are required for anything which alters the place or object, unless a permit exemption is granted. Permit exemptions usually cover routine maintenance and upkeep issues faced by owners as well as minor works or works to the elements of the place or object that are not significant. They may include appropriate works that are specified in a conservation management plan. Permit exemptions can be granted at the time of registration (under section 38 of the Act) or after registration (under section 92 of the Act). It should be noted that the addition of new buildings to the registered place, as well as alterations to the interior and exterior of existing buildings requires a permit, unless a specific permit exemption is granted.
Disrepair of registered place or registered object
Under section 152 of the Act, the owner of a registered place or registered object must not allow that place or object to fall into disrepair.
Failure to maintain registered place or registered object
Under section 153 of the Act, the owner of a registered place or registered object must not fail to maintain that place or object to the extent that its conservation is threatened.Conservation management plans
It is recommended that a Conservation Management Plan is developed to manage the place in a manner which respects its cultural heritage significance.
Archaeology
There is no identified archaeology of State level significance at the place. However, any works that may affect historical archaeological features, deposits or artefacts at the place is likely to require a permit, permit exemption or consent. Advice should be sought from the Archaeology Team at Heritage Victoria.
Aboriginal cultural heritage
To establish whether this place is registered under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 please contact First Peoples – State Relations in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. The Heritage Act 2017 and the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 are separate pieces of legislation. Please be aware that both Acts are required to be satisfied and satisfying the requirements of one Act may not satisfy the requirements of the other.
If any Aboriginal cultural heritage is discovered or exposed at any time it is necessary to immediately contact First Peoples – State Relations in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to ascertain requirements under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006. If works are proposed which have the potential to disturb or have an impact on Aboriginal cultural heritage it is necessary to contact First Peoples – State Relations in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to ascertain any requirements under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006.Other approvals
Please be aware that approval from other authorities (such as local government) may be required to undertake works.
Notes
- All works should ideally be informed by a Conservation Management Plan prepared for the place. The Executive Director is not bound by any Conservation Management Plan, and permits still must be obtained for works suggested in any Conservation Management Plan.
- Nothing in this determination prevents the Heritage Council from amending or rescinding all or any of the permit exemptions.
- Nothing in this determination exempts owners or their agents from the responsibility to seek relevant planning or building permits where applicable.
General Conditions
- All exempted alterations are to be planned and carried out in a manner which prevents damage to the fabric of the registered place.
- Should it become apparent during further inspection or the carrying out of works that original or previously hidden or inaccessible details of the place are revealed which relate to the significance of the place, then the exemption covering such works must cease and Heritage Victoria must be notified as soon as possible.
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