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RSL MEMORIAL HALL
10 BIRDWOOD AVENUE, SEBASTOPOL - PROPERTY NUMBER 2003061, BALLARAT CITY

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RSL Memorial Hall
RSL Memorial Hall
RSL Memorial Hall
RSL Memorial Hall
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Statement of Significance

What is significant?
The Sebastopol RSL Memorial Hall, at 10 Birdwood Avenue, Sebastopol, built 1949 - 1955, and the two-storey red-brick extension built 1957- 1960. The RSL Hall is an L-shaped, hipped roof building with a corrugated iron roof. The roof is largely concealed at the front by a low parapeted front, finished in smooth render. It has a slightly projecting central entrance bay with a hood, above which are two projecting stripes at each end, lending the building a Moderne (Art Deco) appearance. The red brick extension is a long, two-storey, red brick building, with a gable front.

How is it significant?
The Sebastopol RSL Memorial Hall is of historic, social and architectural significance to the City of Ballarat.

Why is it significant?
The Sebastopol RSL Memorial Hall is of historical significance as an important gathering place for ex-service personnel and as a memorial to local men who served in each of the world wars. It is also significant for the incorporation of basalt front steps, taken from the 1868 Primitive Methodist Church (demolished 1940). (Criterion A)

The Sebastopol RSL Memorial Hall is of social significance as an important community facility, which began as a meeting place for ex-service personnel and has evolved to provide a space for entertainment, recreation, education and sporting activities. It survives today as a testament to the community spirit of the Sebastopol RSL branch for raising the funds and providing the physical labor for its construction. (Criterion G)

The Sebastopol RSL Memorial Hall is of architectural significance as a simple postwar brick rendered hall with a facade enlivened by Moderne (Art Deco) design details, including a strong horizontal form featuring a low parapeted facade with a projecting entrance bay. (Criterion E)

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    • Physical Description 1

      RSL MEMORIAL HALL - Physical Description 1

      The RSL site at the corner of Birdwood Avenue and Beverin Street comprises two buildings that have only recently been linked. The first is the RSL Hall of 1949-55, with its facade to Birdwood Avenue, and the second the two-storey structure of 1957-60 containing the gymnasium, supper room and billiard room, which faces Beverin Street. They are situated quite close together and are linked by a flat roof at the ground floor.

      The RSL Hall is an L-shaped, hipped roof building with a corrugated iron roof. The roof is largely concealed at the front by a low parapeted front, finished in smooth render. It has a slightly projecting central entrance bay. The entrance is recessed, and additionally sheltered by a flat concrete hood. Above the hood are two projecting stripes at each end, lending the building a Moderne (Art Deco) appearance. The front ledged doors with textured glass at the top, are reached via three basalt steps. On either side of the projecting bay is a horizontally oriented steel window.

      The side elevation, built to the boundary on Beverin Street, has an even simpler form. It is also finished in render, and the hipped roof is clearly visible. The elevation is divided into five bays by simple piers. The four outer bays each contain two high-set steel windows. A simple brick chimney is visible at the rear of this elevation.

      The gymnasium building is a long, two-storey, red brick building, with a gable front. The windows to Beverin Street are three large steel windows with hoppers at the bottom on each floor. Windows to the side elevations are smaller. There are several pairs of ledged doors on the north elevation, while the south side doors are now concealed within the link to the RSL Hall.

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Heritage Study and Grading

      Ballarat - Sebastopol Heritage Study (Stage 2)

      Author: Context Pty Ltd
      Year: 2015
      Grading: Local

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