Lara Community Centre - (former Pre. Church)
11 Waverley Road, LARA VIC 3212 - Property No 295143
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Statement of Significance
LOCAL SIGNIFICANCE
What is Significant?
The Lara Community Centre (comprising the former Presbyterian Church building) at 11-15 Waverley Road, Lara, has significance as a physical legacy of the life and development of the local Presbyterian Church between 1909 and 1980, and as part of the Lara Community Centre from 1982. The significant fabric includes the Federation Carpenter Gothic styled former Church building characterised by a steeply pitched gable roof, narrow eaves with exposed timber rafters, timber weatherboard wall cladding, three metal ventilation stacks on the roof ridgeline, timber framed pointed-arched windows with projecting timber label moulds, front door opening (but not the doors), and the timber fretwork decoration in the front gable end. Also contributing to the significance of the place is the commemorative plaque to the lives of George Patrick and Mary Fairbairn who were tragically killed in 1935. The plaque is situated on an introduced stainless steel stand, having originally been located on the front Church gate (or fence) and now removed.
How is it Significant?
The former Presbyterian Church is architecturally, historically and socially significant at a LOCAL level. The Fairbairn memorial plaque is historically and socially significant at a LOCAL level.
Why is it Significant?
The former Presbyterian Church is architecturally significant as moderately intact example of a Federation Carpenter Gothic styled Church and the more intact surviving example of this design for a Church building in Lara (Criterion D). Although altered and extended, the original design of the building is clearly discernible from the front and much of the introduced fabric (when viewed from the front) appears to be reversible.
The former Presbyterian Church is historically significant for its associations with the evolution and development of the Presbyterian Church at Lara between 1909 and 1980 and with the establishment and growth of the local Community Centre from 1982 (Criteria A & H). The building also has associations with the Geelong architects, Laird and Buchan, and it represents one of a small number of Federation Carpenter Gothic styled Church buildings designed by them in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries.
The former Presbyterian Church is recognised and valued by sections of the local community for its past contribution to Presbyterian faith and faith education in Lara. It is also especially valued today as an important social hub for community groups and organisations (Criterion G).
The Fairbairn Memorial plaque is historically and socially significant as a marker commemorating the lives of George Patrick and Mary Fairbairn (nee Robertson) of Wooloomanata Homestead, who were tragically killed in an plane accident in 1935 (Criteria H & G).
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Lara Community Centre - (former Pre. Church) - Physical Description 1
DESCRIPTION
The Lara Community Centre is set on a contextually large site at 11-15 Waverley Road. The complex of building comprise the former Presbyterian Church at the western end and the shallow-gabled and rendered former Presbyterian Church Hall at the eastern end. These buildings are linked by a freestanding flat-roofed covered way and flat roofed rendered additions to the front of the former Church Hall (there are also flat-roofed rendered additions to the east side of the Hall). The central court yard between the main buildings now forms an outdoor play area associated with the Day Care Centre. The eastern end of the site has bitumen tennis courts and perimeter trees, with the western end comprising an open bitumen car park and access to a further open car park area at the rear of the site. The front has an open grassed area with minimal plantings and trees. Concrete footpaths provide access to the building. A memorial plaque to Patrick and Mary Fairbairn (nee Robertson) is located on a stainless steel stand outside the front of the former Church building.
Of particular interest is the former Presbyterian Church building. This single storey, symmetrical, horizontal timber weatherboard, Federation Carpenter Gothic styled building has a steeply pitched gable roof clad in introduced zincalume, with narrow overhangs and exposed timber eaves rafters on the east and west sides. Three early metal ventilation stacks adorn the roof ridgeline. The west and front (south) elevations feature early timber framed pointed-arched windows with projecting timber label moulds. The front also has an early double door way, although the doors, and particularly the central flat-roofed glazed porch, have been introduced (the glazed porch replacing the original gabled porch previously in this location). Another early feature of the design is the timber fretwork decoration in the front gable end.
The former Church building has also experienced a number of alterations and addition. On the east side, the original pointed-arched windows have been replaced with aluminium framed windows. The building is also enveloped on three sides by a freestanding flat-roofed covered way, together with a recessive flat-roofed addition on the west side. There is also a gabled addition at the rear (north of the building).
Overall, the original design of the former Presbyterian Church building is clearly discernible when viewed from Waverley Road and much of the introduced fabric (including enveloping flat-roofed covered way) is reversible.
Outside the front of the former Church (on the east side) is a stainless stand with a plaque that reads: " In Loving Memory of our Daughter Mary Robertson and her husband Patrick Fairbairn who were both accidentally killed in an aeroplane on May 26 1935, both aged 26 years."
Heritage Study and Grading
Greater Geelong - Lara Heritage Review Phase 2
Author: D. Rowe & W. Jacobs
Year: 2013
Grading:
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