BOGGABRIA School of Arts was erected in 1901 at the corner of Dalton and Merton streets in Boggabri, on land donated by Mrs Margaret Jones. It has been described as "a brick building with a square front and a nice entrance". The late Mrs M. W. McDonald at one time provided a rough floor plan of the interior of the building which gives a good indication of its design. A hallway led from the front door to a large room at the rear of the building, big enough to comfortably hold two full-sized billiard tables. At the front of the building, the hallway provided access to two rooms on the left and one on the right. The first room on the left at the front was the library and beside it on the left was a cards room. The one room on the right, which took up the same amount of space as the two on the left, was designed as a reading room and meeting area. Although no records remain to indicate the size of the building, it was probably in the order of about 20 metres long and 8 metres wide. Four windows were provided along each of the main exterior walls and there was a door in the centre of the back wall which provided direct access to the billiard room. Mrs McDonald spoke of "fireplaces in each of the rooms" but it is not known where these were located. State Government documents of 1909 and 1914 speak of the "Alexandra Hall" in Boggabri. Local Historical Society members believe that this may well have been an early name for the School of Arts building, bestowed to honour Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII who came to the throne in the same year that the School of Arts was built. In 1930, the School of Arts building had the misfortune to suffer severe damage in a "violent whirlwind". Its corrugated iron roof was blown off and deposited some 150 yards away. From that point onwards, the building gradually fell into disrepair. Tenders were called for its demolition in November 1942 and in March 1943, the Boggabri Examiner commented that "at last, Boggabri's eyesore and menace is to disappear from the landscape." It was demolished soon afterwards and its bricks were sold off, by the demolition contractor, for £2 per hundred.
A fire station was built on the vacated School of Arts site in 1952. It in turn was demolished to make way for the present Fire Station, opened in 1997. Its StoryDuring its relatively short lifespan of only forty- two years, the Boggabri School of Arts served a very significant community function. Unlike its counterpart build later in nearby Baan Baa, the Boggabri building was designed from the outset to provide a library service, a reading room, games rooms and a meeting area. It is known that at first, there was only one billiard table in the School of Arts. In 1909, its management committee issued 120 Debentures, each of £1, drawn on the Boggabri branch of the Australian Joint Stock Bank, to fund the purchase of an additional billiard table and to provide lighting for the building. It is not known what type of lighting was provided but it was probably of the petrol vapour kind. The need for a second billiard table would indicate that the sporting facilities of the School of Arts, at least, were proving to be very popular during the first ten years or so of its operation. The second billiard table was purchased and took its place beside the original one. In due course, both to them would find their way into the Boggabri R.S.L. Club where they still continue to provide a source of entertainment for local residents. A publication entitled Boggabri: The Story of our Town, published by the Boggabri Adult Education Committee and first printed in 1957, describes the School of Arts as "a place where people gathered to read, play billiards, cards and hold debates". It seems, however, that its library and reading services were never particularly extensive - the library is remembered as being "only very small". Two people who were known to have served as librarians at different times were Dot Howe and Jean O'Shea. Its Later UseDuring the years of the First World War, the School of Arts was a place where meetings of all kinds were held including gatherings of the Red Cross, the War Chest, the C.W.A., and the War Girls Guild. Immediately after the war, it was also the venue for the first meetings of the Boggabri R.S.L. The period between the wars saw a steady decline in the services offered by the School of Arts. It is recorded that "the committee was always in debt and had trouble paying its rates and the librarian." To help keep the institution operational, the front rooms of the building were rented out during the 1920s and early 1930s to "Mr Ellis the tailor, his daughter Mrs Yeates, the tailorless Miss Alice Studdy, and Mr Elliot". The reference to "Mr Elliot" was to the stock and station agency business of Devine, Elliot and Martin. During the Second World War, when the Australian Armoured Corps conducted extensive training in the area, the School of Arts building served for a time as a Provost Station for the military police who were associated with the operation. Its Significance to the CommunityThe Boggabri School of Arts was in operation only from 1901 to 1943. Although relatively short- lived, it served an important community function, particularly in its early years, as a venue for social gatherings and meetings. It is interesting that from the very beginning, it was never called upon to serve as a hall for larger meetings. The town had at least two other buildings which could be used for this purpose. Perhaps this is why the School of Arts fell into disuse before many similar institutions throughout the region. Without a use as a public hall, the demand for its smaller meeting facilities would have faded and as the popularity of billiards declined (along with the revenue from its tables), the School of Arts would have found itself in sufficiently dire straits to begin renting its premises out to commercial tenants. Its general lack of funds meant that the building itself began to fall into disrepair, especially after the storm damage of 1930. It was perhaps not surprising that it was demolished in 1942. No known photograph of the building has survived although the active Boggabri Historical Society is hopeful that, in time, one will become available.
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