The Templestowe Shire Hall
The Templestowe Shire Hall stood at the corner of Parker and Ruffeys Streets. It was placed back from the road in the centre of a block of land that has now been made a reserve.The Hall was built in 1872 as an office and meeting place for the Roads Board. The first meetings of the Roads Board were held in the Upper Yarra Hotel. Then the Board had to face the realities of lack of finance, so they economised by meeting in the home of the Secretary, John Turner.
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| Templestowe Shire Hall 1872 |
In 1872 the Roads Board was renting a small room from Mr. Evans as a Roads Board Office. A deputation from the Doncaster Athenaeum approached the Board, offering to build a room at the rear of their new hall as an office for the Roads Board for a fee of £6 per annum.
The Board had already been granted a block of land in the Templestowe Village as a site for an office. The offer of the Athenaeum stimulated them into action and immediately plans were drawn up for a Roads Board Office. The hall was designed by Thomas O'Brien, who filled the all purpose job of Secretary, Rate Collector and Surveyor.
It was a simple two-roamed building with a single gable roof. The walls were weatherboard with a shingle roof. A chimney in the middle of the roof was placed off centre to provide a fireplace for both rooms. In 1875, when the Shire of Bulleen was formed, the Roads Board Office became a Shire Hall. Fifteen years later it was given another change of name.
At the height of the land boom, Doncaster severed from the Shire of Bulleen. Templestowe and Warrandyte carried on the Shire under the name of The Shire of Templestowe. The building now became the Templestowe Shire Hall.
The depression which followed the land boom meant loss of rate revenue. The Shire had to operate under difficulties. After the outbreak of the 1914 war, financial problems increased. To solve the problems, the two shires were reunited. The Templestowe Shire Hall was no longer needed.
When the war had ended, life in Templestowe revived. The old Shire Hall was moved to the Recreation Reserve. The building was placed on high stumps to allow a stand of tiered seats to be built at the front. A lean-to was added at the rear to house showers. The building had now been converted to a sports pavilion. For over forty years, the old Shire Hall was in constant use in the Templestowe Reserve. It gave valuable service as changing rooms and grandstand for the many teams who played on the ground. Ten years ago the old building was becoming dilapidated and it was decided to build a new pavilion. The old Shire Hall, after its long and varied life, was demolished.
Irvine Green writing in 1975 05 DTHS Newsletter
OLD TEMPLESTOWE SHIRE HALL
Doncaster council invited tenders for the purchase and removal of the of Templestowe shire hall, situated at Lower Templestowe, returnable at it's meeting on Tuesday night, August 13 but no offers were forthcoming for the building, which had been erected over 50 years ago. Ex-Cr. Hodgson presented to the council a largely-signed requisition from the residents of Templestowe, opposing the sale of the Hall, as they contended it should be placed on either the local recreation reserve or at the tennis court. Cr Hunter said he had supported the sale of the building because it had stood there for over two years, since the amalgamation of the two shires, with-out being used, and since they had be-gan to meet at Doncaster some of the ratepayers had asked him why they did not sell it. The council had to keep the building insured, and got no bene-fit therefrom. It was certainly not an ornament to the district, and if placed on the public reserve would still re-main under the control of the council but it would cost £16 or £20 to remove the building there. The hall was fast deteriorating in value and if they took the roof off its appearance would be very poor as there was a shingle roof underneath. He remembered on first getting into the council moving that a proper roof be put on the structure, as the rain used to come through on to their heads. He moved that the council take no further action with regard to the disposal of the building. Ex-Cr Hodgson suggested that a public meet-ing he held at Templestowe to decide as to what was best to be done with it. --Cr. Hunter did not think that was necessary. Supposing the council did sell it, the funds would go to the Templestowe riding, which included Warrandyte, and if there had been three ridings Warrandyte would say that they had an interest in that money. Should they decide to remove it to the reserve they would then ask. what was their share.-The president (Cr. H. J. Clay) seconded the motion The only reason why the council decided to sell it was because it was deteriorating, but if the ratepayers of Templestowe wanted the hall they would only be too pleased to let them have it -Cr. McNamara said he posed as a representative of the whole Templestowe riding. That building had stood there for over two years, with-out one word from the ratepayers. It was not earning any revenue, and the council had to pay insurance upon it. Now they had a petition from some ratepayers asking for it to be placed on the recreation ground. Were they pre-pared to pay the expense of removing it there ? That hall belonged to the Templestowe riding - from Heidelberg bridge to Ringwood - and he believed in justice all round. The ratepayers of Warrandyte, at the other end, had just as much right to ask for it as those few Templestowe ratepayers. What if they wanted it at Wonga park ? - Cr. Mitchell: That is in Lillydale shire -Cr. McNamara: Well, they have a hall at South Warrandyte. As a ratepayer, he would be very pleased to see it put on the recreation ground, but as a representative of the whole riding he would sooner have the £40 or whatever it brought spent on the roads. He asked if those who used the recreation reserve would pay for the expense of shifting it. the council had spent a lot of money there, but those who used it had not put their bands in their pockets. he favored a public meeting, and let the ratepayers decide.-Cr. Tully thought there was no necessity for a motion to take no action. In view of the petition, they could not go on with the sale of the hall.-Ex-Cr Hodgson: That Is all we require--The motion was agreed to.1918 'OLD TEMPLESTOWE SHIRE HALL', Reporter (Box Hill, Vic. : 1889 - 1918), 23 August, p. 2. , viewed 22 Jul 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75170417
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