Restaurant (Former Fire Station)
20 Regent Street, BELMONT Vic 3216 - Property No 236438
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Statement of Significance
C - LISTED - LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE
The building at 20 Regent Street is aesthetically significant at a LOCAL level. It demonstrates original design qualities of the interwar Art Deco style which include the cement rendered shopfront containing a striking pedimented parapet, paired square pilasters with geometric square and rectangular detailing, and the recessed title panel. The roof form, finish and ventilation stacks at the rear are also signficant. The building also makes a significant contribution to the predominantly single storey streetscape.
The building at 20 Regent Street is historically significant at a LOCAL level. It has a strong association with the Country Fire Authority for over sixty years. The building is also historically significant at a LOCAL level as the work of Jack Freeland, early 20th century Geelong builder.
The building at 20 Regent Street is socially significant at a LOCAL level. It is recognised by the community as having public value for its associations with Belmont Fire Brigade. Through the shopfront recessed title panel with the name 'C.F.B.B. Belmont Fire Station 1930', the building also demonstrates a custom of decentralised suburban fire stations that is no longer in use.
Overall the former Belmont Fire Station at 20 Regent Street is of LOCAL significance.
REFERENCE
1. Shire of South Barwon Rate Books, 1955-56.
2. Interview by Rowe and Huddle with Mr Eric Lyons, retired Geelong builder, 3 March, 1999.
3. Apperly, Irving & Reynolds, A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, 1989, p.188.
4. J. Pescott, South Barwon 1857-1985, Neptune Press & the City of South Barwon, Geelong, 1985, p.45.
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Restaurant (Former Fire Station) - Physical Description 1
DESCRIPTION
The site at 20 Regent Street is visually connected with a significant view of the Barwon River aqueduct to the east. The former Belmont Fire Station building is set in a predominantly single storey residential streetscape, denoted by brick and timber houses with pitched roofs, with commercial buildings along the eastern end and churches located at the western end of this section of the street. The building is unlike others in the street, and has an atypical boundary to boundary frontage.
The single storey cement rendered brick interwar Art Deco styled building has a gabled galvanised corrugated iron roof with three ventilation stacks adorning the roof top. The building is characterised by a rendered brick shopfront which wraps around the corners, establishing a contrast between the face brick walls towards the rear. A striking pedimented parapet with a concrete capping crowns the front. Paired square pilasters with line details forming their capitals, together with other geometrical square and rectangular patterns, are distinctive Art Deco features. Another feature of the style is the recessed title panel (containing the name and construction date of the building).
The Art Deco shopfront style of the former Belmont Fire Station building was a common occurrence for suburban milkbars and cinemas in the 1930s.3 Although a modest example, this building is a particularly early version of the style in the suburban, residential situation.
The bullnosed verandah is a recent addition.
Heritage Study and Grading
Greater Geelong - City of Greater Geelong Belmont Heritage Reports
Author: Dr David Rowe
Year: 2007
Grading: C
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