Sebastopol Town Hall complex
181-185 ALBERT STREET SEBASTOPOL - PROPERTY NUMBER 2000222, BALLARAT CITY

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Statement of Significance
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Sebastopol Town Hall complex - Physical Description 1
The Sebastopol Town Hall complex was developed primarily between the 1860s and 1960s. Most of the site is covered by interconnected buildings of a variety of ages. At the south end of the site is a small park and collection of memorials.
The 1960 Borough Hall stretches across two-thirds of the frontage of the site. There are two cast-concrete lamp standards in front of it, situated on the outer edge of the footpath. The 1960 Borough Hall is a single-storey parapeted cream brick building with brown-brick foundations and piers delineating the central section and two smaller flanking windowless bays. The long central section has a cantilevered concrete parapet sheltering three banks of aluminium windows and two entrances. The southern entrance retains its yellow terrazzo steps and three timber doors with horizontal glazing. The northern doorway (to the library) has a modern concrete ramp and simpler door with glazing to either side.
The Maternal and Child Health Centre was appended to the south end of the Borough Hall, and was designed to complement it. The first (windowless) bay is constructed of cream brick (a much yellower shade than the orangey bricks of the Borough Hall), while the southernmost bay is of the orangey-cream brick, suggesting that the two structures were linked at a later date. The southern-most bay is set back behind a commemorative drinking fountain and has a decorative window wall. The panels are textured glass in blue and white, divided into vertical and horizontal lights. Below the windows is a panel of tiny green tiles with red and white tiles sprinkled among them. The entrance to the building is in the later link and has a late 20th-century glazed porch and doors, and the concrete roof is supported on a post (as compared to the cantilevered verandah to the 1960s section).
At the rear of the 1960 Borough Hall are two earlier buildings that have been enveloped in it. One is a 19th-century building (possibly part of the first Town Hall), and another that may date to the turn of the century.
The 19th-century building has been covered with a disfiguring layer of roughcast render, and only one elevation is visible. Only the roof and eaves are intact. The roof is hipped and covered with slate. The eaves have particularly elegant timber brackets with large turned drops.
Two segmentally arched windows also survive on this elevation (as well as two modern openings).
To the north side of the 19th-century building, and set back to the rear of the site is a small, gable-fronted brick hall, also obscured by a heavy layer of modern render. Judging from the hard red bricks visible beneath the render, and the cast-iron air bricks, it appears to date to around the turn of the century. The chimney breasts have rather old-fashioned stepped sides, and the roof rafters are exposed. The rear and one side of this hall (now a Drop-in Centre) are visible, while the facade is mostly covered by a c1960 cream brick addition.
At the south end of the site in the Neville FD Donald Park is a collection of memorials. The King George V drinking fountain of c1936 is particularly fine, executed in light and dark grey granite with a variety of finishes. Also of note is the granite war memorial. It is rather squat in appearance, with a bronze cross at its centre, bronze wreaths on either side and lettering 'TO THE FALLEN'. Beside it are modern bronze plaques with lists of those who served in the two world wars.
Finally, there is a basalt cairn commemorating Australia's bicentennial.
At the rear of the land, on the Wilson Lane boundary is a mature bifurcated Ulmus procera English Elm.
Heritage Study and Grading
Ballarat - Sebastopol Heritage Study (Stage 2)
Author: Context Pty Ltd
Year: 2015
Grading: Local
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