FISH CREEK MEMORIAL HALL & FREE LIBRARY
13 FALLS ROAD, FISH CREEK, SOUTH GIPPSLAND SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
The 1959 supper room addition and other alterations and additions are not significant.
It is significant as a typical example of an architect-designed hall of the interwar period, which is distinguished from earlier halls by the inclusion of a bio-box for the showing of motion pictures as an integral part of the design. It is also of note for its associations with local architect, T.E. Molloy, who designed several public and town halls in South Gippsland. Aesthetically, it is a landmark building that contributes to the historic character of Falls Road precinct in Fish Creek. (Criteria D, E & H)
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FISH CREEK MEMORIAL HALL & FREE LIBRARY - Physical Description 1
The Fish Creek Memorial Hall & Free Library, as constructed in 1930, is a simple gabled brick hall with a cinema projection ('bio') box as a smaller projecting gable (with a 'blind' or covered over window) over the entry portico, which is supported on concrete Tuscan columns standing on rendered pedestals at either side. Below the portico are double timber entrance doors, with the door to the bio-box at left and a small window at right. The portico entrance is flanked by matching hipped side rooms with paired sets of multi-pane metal windows and a square brick and render chimney with a terracotta pot. There are similar high-set windows in the east side elevation, some of which retain original panes of blue-tinted glass. The hall has a steel roof frame, presumably carried on the bottom chords of the trusses, which are visible in the exposed eaves. The undercroft and base is in reinforced concrete. Internally, the decoration of the hall is relatively plain. There is a dado and plastered walls capped by ornamental cornices below a barrel-vaulted ceiling with heavy plaster moulds and boxes. The hall contains a collection of honour boards for the Fish Creek district including World War I 1914-19, World War II 1939-45, Vietnam 1962-1973, and the Fish Creek Branch of the Australian Natives Association (No.213) 1914-1919.
The 1930 hall has a relatively high degree of intactness and integrity, both externally and internally. Externally, the windows in the west side elevation have been replaced, and the false gable end on the portico is a later addition, covering/replacing the original masonry parapet. Brick additions have been made on both the west and east sides behind the anterooms to accommodate new toilet facilities and disabled access ramps added at the rear. Internally, the colour scheme has been changed and some decorative and other features have been removed (e.g. tiled border to the dado, decoration around the stage, and the 'automated folding doors'). The stairs to the left of the stage have also been removed to provide access to the supper room addition.
The 1959 supper room addition continues the gabled roofline. It is distinguished by the windows, which lack the concrete lintels and sills of the 1930 hall. The large metal-framed windows in the east elevation are original, while those in the west elevation have been replaced.
The Fish Creek Memorial Hall is a landmark building within the historic Falls Road commercial precinct.
Heritage Study and Grading
South Gippsland - Amendment C92 Heritage Review
Author: David Helms Heritage Planning
Year: 2014
Grading: LocalSouth Gippsland - South Gippsland Heritage Study
Author: David Helms with Trevor Westmore
Year: 2004
Grading:
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