ARMIDALEThe perception of Armidale as an important and growing town centre in the New England district was almost certainly the catalyst for the successful formation of a School of Arts Committee on 18th July 1859. There had been several attempts previously to form a School of Arts in the town but none were successful. The first Committee comprised of an influential body of men:
It is interesting to note that only Mr Hargrave was engaged in primary industry. All of the other Committee men had town-based mercantile business interests or were clergymen. It was a composition which would lead to bitterness in years to come. An early problem was a lack of suitable premises. Mr John Trim, a prominent storekeeper in Armidale, made some accommodation available but it was inconveniently remote from the centre of town. Lectures had to be conducted in the Court House, the only suitable building available. In April 1862, rooms were rented from Dr Skinner in Beardy Street (Armidale's main street) for £17 per annum and the Library and Reading Room were established there.
The Secretary placed a sum of £300 on the following year 's estimates, on the understanding that the Committee contributed a corresponding sum. Its fund raising efforts only raised £125. Tenders were called and the building contract was let to Mr J Harper (a Committeeman) for £422. The Armidale School of Arts Hall was officially opened on 2nd November 1863. It measured 45 feet by 25 feet (16m x 6m) and was built of soft red bricks laid in English bond on basalt footings. A half-domed lath-and-plaster ceiling lined the interior of the shingled roof, while a convex corrugated iron awning was erected over the entrance door and windows on the Faulkner Street frontage. Only fourteen months later, on 1st January 1865, a new wing containing a Library and Reading Room was erected immediately to the north of the original building, facing Faulkner Street. The architecture conformed to that of the existing building (save for the omission of window shutters) and again measured 45 feet by 25 feet (16m x 6m). Its StoryThe earliest objective of the Armidale School of Arts was stated as "to have some place where periodicals, newspapers and books could be available for reading by members, on neutral ground". A series of lectures on subjects as diverse as self-improvement, Egyptology and Phrenology were given, as well as other activities such as musical soirees, bazaars, debates and concerts were organised. The School of Arts building soon came into demand as a meeting venue for a wide range of community groups. It is very likely to have contained the largest single room in Armidale outside of the Court House and was on more "neutral ground" than the hotels. It was the venue for the earliest meetings of the Armidale Municipal Council which were said to be "notoriously stormy". Other groups which used the School Arts were the Pastoral & Agricultural Society, the Amateur Dramatic Society and the various Schools. The high ideal of the School of Arts movement, the self-improvement of the labouring classes, proved difficult to attain. As historian John Ferry states: "Like similar organisations across the colony, the Armidale School of Arts had never succeeded in becoming a mechanics' institute as was its aim. Its accumulated reading material was moralising and somewhat esoteric and many of its lectures were rather academic." The elitist character of its Committee contributed to a sectarian-based coup at the Annual General Meeting in 1865. A symptom of wider factional problems in Armidale, the bitter disputes within the School of Arts Committee created long-running problems that eventually led to the Municipal Council assuming control in 1871. Not only were there problems with management, but the fabric of the building was also cause for concern. The southern wall developed a pronounced bulge in 1867 and was considered unsafe. Repairs, which relieved the wall of the weight of the roof and the fitting of iron bracing rods, were undertaken. Today, the wall is structurally sound, thanks to those repairs of 130 years ago, but the remarkable bulge in the wall remains. During the period from 1871 to 1895, the Armidale Municipal Council placed great emphasis on the operation of the free Library in the School of Arts building. In November 1872, at Council's request, the Colonial Secretary announced an endowment of £200 to the Library. Opening hours were:
Mr C. Wilson was appointed as Librarian and a wide range of newspapers and periodicals from both Australia and overseas were regularly carried. Considerable expenditure was committed to the Library collection, fittings, furnishings and to the School of Arts Building itself. It appears that maintenance of the building was not neglected when under the stewardship of the old Committee, as expenditure on repairs and additions totalled £314. Included in the work was a 20 feet long by 20 feet long (7m x 7m) extension to the "town hall" (as it, by then, had occasionally come to be called) and an office for the Town Clerk. This work was completed in 1873. A stage and proscenium were added in 1877 and a supper room was erected in late 1880 at a cost of £25. The new Armidale Town Hall was completed in 1882, on a site in Rusden Street, just west of, and adjacent to, the School of Arts. Common terminology referred to this building as the "Town Hall" whilst the original portion of the School of Arts became known as the "Old Town Hall". Gas-lighting - which must have been a boon to Library patrons - was installed in 1885, while the wooden shingles were covered with corrugated iron in 1892. Recent inspection showed that these shingles were still in situ on the 1865 extension, under the roofing iron. By 1894, concern was being expressed by Aldermen regarding the cost of conducting the Library and Reading Room. In June 1895, an agreement was reached whereby Council relinquished control, which reverted to the School of Arts Committee. The agreement called for the Committee to pay £1 per annum in rent in return for a £25 allowance from Council.
A Billiard Room was added to the west of the 1865 extension in 1897, perhaps as a way of subsidising the cost to the Committee of operating the Library. This room, with its vaulted ceiling and cupola skylight contained two billiard tables. A second Billiard Room, also with a skylight, but containing only one billiard table, was added in about 1905. This room included an exterior door and landing leading to the yard to the north, giving access for billiard players independent of the Library. In this way, the hedonistic could come and go, free from the gaze of the erudite. The cast iron, bull-nosed verandah on the Rusden Street frontage, was erected in 1891 at a cost of £160. A new semi-circular pediment was added to the facade in 1915 and the combination of these two architectural features creates the striking and unified building which survives to this day. The legend on the parapet - "Armidale Literary Institute 1915" - indicates the new name adopted by the Armidale School of Arts in 1912. Its Later UseThe Armidale Literary Institute advertised regularly in the Armidale Express and Armidale Chronicle, extolling the virtues of their Library, periodicals, games rooms and function facilities. During the First World War, the Institute Committee showed its patriotic support by conducting a Soldier 's Club in the original School of Arts room. A dedicated Soldier 's Memorial Clubroom was erected in 1924 on the north-western corner of the existing School of Arts building. It was conducted by the Returned Sailors & Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (forerunner of the RSL) and appears to have had only a loose association with the Literary Institute Committee. The southern portion of the old School of Arts building was renovated in 1931 by the replacement of the original lath and plaster ceiling (which was probably damaged by long term roof leaks) with "caneite" , still retaining the original vaulted profile. Dark stained wood wainscot panelling was added in the style of the period. With two fireplaces, an entrance via Rusden Street and adjacent supper facilities, the hall became a popular dance venue through to the 1950s. Many elderly Armidale couples today have nostalgic memories of the "dances at the Lit". Revenue from dance bookings, other functions and meetings and billiard charges helped to subsidise the Library services.
The passing of the NSW Library Act of 1939, which introduced the concept of free public Libraries, sponsored by State and Local Government, started an agitation for a new Library building, separate from the Literary Institute. By 1946, plans were announced to demolish the entire old School of Arts Building to make way for a new Library and "Public Social Recreation Block". A public subscription to raise funds for the new project was launched in November 1946 but an inability to raise the required £20,000 for the project led to it being shelved in favour of a more modest plan. The Literary Institute agreed to transfer its entire Library of 9,000 items to Council as a free gift; to provide temporary accommodation at an agreed rental; transfer vacant land to the new War Memorial Library; and transfer the present Institute Librarian to Council's staff. A new Council Committee was "formed to deal with the establishment of a Public Library in Armidale". Council opened a free Public Library, temporarily located in the Literary Institute building on 1 April 1949. Work commenced toward establishing a purpose-built Library building alongside in Faulkner Street. Finally, in March 1955, the Armidale City and Dumaresq Shire War Memorial Library was opened and Library services in the old School of Arts building ceased after 92 years. The Literary Institute transferred title of its building to the Armidale City Council. The vacant building was soon occupied by the Handicapped Children's Association, before it found other, more suitable premises. The Armidale Folk Museum was officially opened in part of the Literary Institute Building on 20th November 1958 and gradually extended its displays to the whole premises by 1963. It still functions there today. The remaining billiard tables in the Literary Institute building were sold by tender in 1959. Evidence within the building indicates that up to five billiard tables had been in use. The Soldiers' Memorial Clubrooms continued to function until 1970 when they were demolished to make way for an extension to the Memorial Library. Since that date, the old Literary Institute Building has been used solely as the venue for the Armidale Folk Museum, save for a short period in 1984 when one room was used as a temporary Tourist Information Centre. Its Significance to the CommunityIt is probable today that Armidale's School of Arts Building is the third oldest edifice in the city. It is certainly the oldest in Council's stewardship. For almost 150 years, it has made a valuable contribution to Armidale's cultural history. Since the earliest days, from ill-conceived attempts at self-improvement of mechanics, to house meetings of a diverse range of community groups, including the robust debates of Aldermen; providing books and periodicals to the community of an isolated New England town; dances, music, recitals, entertainment; and as a repository of the districts' history since 1958. It is indeed fitting that a building which has seen so much of the city's history is now called upon to house it. As always has been the case, a constant stream of its citizens come and go, to enquire, to see and to learn.
|
To Alpha List |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
