St George's Hall II
May. 4th, 2006 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seandcOk, I found another reference to the old St George's Hall Theatre, this one in a book that was published while the actual building was still standing. And it includes a sketch of the portico as well. Funnily enough, it was on my library's shelves, and I could swear I looked at this one before...
ST GEORGE'S HALL
At the "other end of town," just beyond the city stores and business offices in Hay Street east, stands a unique city building — probably noticed less than many that are architecturally inferior. It is the only building in Perth with a classical Greek façade of Doric columns and pediment, but unfortunately the columns stand so close to the footpath that most of their lofting effect is lost. St George's Hall, its proper title, would be unfamiliar to most Western Australian people, though they would readily recognize it as the offices of the Child Welfare Department.
The hall, a business venture by the legal firm of Stone and Burt, was built as a theatre in 1879, on a block of land ad-joining the firm's offices between Pier and Irwin Streets. It opened on 4 December of that year with a gala performance of The Colleen Baun, an Irish play presented by one of the earliest "little theatre" groups.
For the next twenty years, St George's Hall was a centre of public entertainment and a highspot of the night life of the '80s and '90s. It lost its glamour at the end of the century when a new theatre, admirable in size, splendour, and siting was built in central Hay Street. This was T. G. A. Molloy's Theatre Royal. The original theatre was bought by the State Government, and the government lithographer with his staff became the first occupants.
About 1920, the Child Welfare Department took over the front section of the building, and a portion of the W.A. Government Tramways Department squeezed into the rear. Since then the Tramways Department has shifted, and the building has been the home of the Department which works in close cooperation with the Perth Children's Court opposite.
From: Perth Sketchbook; text by Kirwan Ward, drawings by Paul Rigby.
Adelaide : Rigby, 1966
ST GEORGE'S HALL
At the "other end of town," just beyond the city stores and business offices in Hay Street east, stands a unique city building — probably noticed less than many that are architecturally inferior. It is the only building in Perth with a classical Greek façade of Doric columns and pediment, but unfortunately the columns stand so close to the footpath that most of their lofting effect is lost. St George's Hall, its proper title, would be unfamiliar to most Western Australian people, though they would readily recognize it as the offices of the Child Welfare Department.
The hall, a business venture by the legal firm of Stone and Burt, was built as a theatre in 1879, on a block of land ad-joining the firm's offices between Pier and Irwin Streets. It opened on 4 December of that year with a gala performance of The Colleen Baun, an Irish play presented by one of the earliest "little theatre" groups.
For the next twenty years, St George's Hall was a centre of public entertainment and a highspot of the night life of the '80s and '90s. It lost its glamour at the end of the century when a new theatre, admirable in size, splendour, and siting was built in central Hay Street. This was T. G. A. Molloy's Theatre Royal. The original theatre was bought by the State Government, and the government lithographer with his staff became the first occupants.
About 1920, the Child Welfare Department took over the front section of the building, and a portion of the W.A. Government Tramways Department squeezed into the rear. Since then the Tramways Department has shifted, and the building has been the home of the Department which works in close cooperation with the Perth Children's Court opposite.
From: Perth Sketchbook; text by Kirwan Ward, drawings by Paul Rigby.
Adelaide : Rigby, 1966
