Prominently situated on Enoggera Terrace, the former Ithaca Town Council Chambers presently comprises the Ithaca Library and Red Hill Kindergarten. Completed in 1910, the former Chambers were designed by Brisbane architects Henry Wallace Atkinson and Charles McLay, and built by Charles Thomas Hall and Francis Joseph Mayer.
The Municipality of Brisbane was proclaimed on 7 September 1859, shortly before the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in December of that year. Although individual settlements such as Fortitude Valley, Kangaroo Point and South Brisbane agitated for separate municipality status, it was not until the Local Government Authorities Act of 1878 and the Divisional Boards Act of 1879 that a series of local authorities were created in the Brisbane Metropolitan area.
The Division of Ithaca was proclaimed in 1879, and was named after the birthplace of Lady Roma Diamantina Bowen, wife of Queensland’s first Governor, George Bowen. Ithaca was one of eight divisions within the Municipality of Brisbane, and comprised most of the western suburbs of Brisbane from Kelvin Grove Road to Mt Coot-tha and the head of Kelvin Grove Brook. An area just before the junction of Waterworks Road and Kelvin Grove Road formed the southeastern extremity of the Division.
The Division of Ithaca was proclaimed a Shire in 1887, and eventually a Town on 19 August 1903. In 1900 the Council purchased subdivisions 131 to 133 on Enoggera Terrace, at the corner of Kennedy Terrace, considered by the Council to be a central location within the Town area. Although plans had previously been drawn up, Atkinson and McLay were commissioned to prepare plans for a suitable hall in brick and in wood in 1909. Tenders for the new Council Chambers (brick) for the Ithaca Town Council were invited in October 1909; that of Hall and Mayes for £1149 was accepted, but reduced to £1100 with the removal of certain embellishments from the plans.
Atkinson and McLay practiced in partnership from 1907 until McLay’s death in 1918. Prior to working in private practice, both Atkinson and McLay worked for the Department of Public Works during the late nineteenth century.
The Council Chambers fronted Enoggera Terrace, with the main entrance at the southern end of the building. In addition to the Council Chamber, the building provided offices for the Town Clerk, Accountant, Mayor and Engineer, and included a strongroom. A second entrance was provided at the northern end of the building. An internal staircase led to an Earth Closet, lavatory and tool store downstairs. The plans indicated a future extension of the building along the Kennedy Terrace frontage; a modified version of which appears to have been carried out with the extension of the building to accommodate the Kindergarten during the 1950s. The Council Chambers were completed in 1910. Signage on the building and a flagpole had been added to the building by 1919.
Enoggera Terrace was also used by trams. The tram line extended along Enoggera Terrace to the terminus at the corner of Kennedy Terrace in 1902, and was subsequently extended to its terminus at Federal Street in 1904. During the 1920s/30s a tram shelter was erected adjacent to the front of the former Council Chambers, to a standard Brisbane City Council design.
The Town of Ithaca was absorbed into Greater Brisbane in 1925. Part of the building and the grounds were subsequently used as a Council depot until 1961.
During the 1940s the Red Hill Community Centre was established in the former Council Chambers by TR Groom (later Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1955 to 1961) and other community members. The Centre included a library in the former offices of the Mayor and Engineer, and a kindergarten established in 1947 made use of the former Chamber. The former Chamber was also hired out for various community activities such as dancing classes, wedding receptions and Liberal Party meetings.
The library was taken over by the Council in 1946/47 by which time it occupied the former Chamber, and was renamed the Ithaca District Municipal Library. Although plans were prepared c1946 for a proposed gymnasium and club room at the rear of the building, these additions did not eventuate.
Additional space in the building was required by the early 1950s; a large extension to the west of the building was completed by 1954 and used for kindergarten classrooms. In 1959 the Kindergarten was formally inaugurated as the Enoggera Terrace Community Association – Kindergarten. Further need for space during the early 1960s resulted in the Kindergarten taking over the former Council Works Department sheds in the grounds, and the space underneath the building whilst the Library took over some of the Kindergarten space. Successive leases have required the occupants of the building to carry out improvements; consequently the building has undergone a series of minor changes and alterations.
The Library closed in 1998, and the former library space is now used as a venue for community groups and community meetings. The toilets at the rear of the former Chambers have been altered, and a new adult toilet provided in the Kindergarten. The former Works Department sheds and the flagpole at the front of the building are no longer extant (February 2000).
Only eight of the twenty town halls that existed at the time of Greater Brisbane in 1925 are still extant (December 1999); six of which remain in Council ownership including the former Ithaca Town Council Chambers, Brisbane City Hall, Sandgate Town Hall, Toombul Shire Hall, Windsor Shire Chambers and Hamilton Town Hall. Coorparoo Shire Hall and the South Brisbane Municipal Chambers are no longer owned by the Brisbane City Council.
The Enoggera Terrace Tram Shelter No. 7:
In 1905, the tramline was extended along Enoggera Terrace, linking La Trobe Terrace with Waterworks Road, both of which had existing tramlines. This timber tram shelter, situated adjacent to the State listed former Ithaca Town Chamber, was most likely constructed between 1932 and 1939. Most ex-tram shelters are presently located on existing or abandoned Council bus routes. The majority were constructed by BCC as a result of petitioning by community groups or progress societies.
Brisbane’s association with trams began in August 1885 with the horse tram, owned by the Metropolitan Tramway & Investment Co. In 1895, a contract was let to the Tramways Construction Co. Ltd. of London to electrify the system. In 1897, the Paddington, Red Hill (Enoggera Terrace & Waterworks Rd) and Petrie Terrace lines were opened.
On 1 January 1923, the Brisbane Tramway Trust took over the Brisbane Tramway Company. During the period 1918-1922 no new lines or extensions were built, and little rolling stock constructed (in spite of growing traffic and serious overcrowding) due to the company nearing the end of its franchise. After the takeover, an urgent works program began, with most shelters of four poster design being constructed in the period 1925-1940.
This shelter shed was built to a 1932 design. Constructed during the Great Depression, it was constructed as part of a BCC works program to alleviate unemployment. This particular shelter is marked on a BCC map for 1939-40 and is a "standard four-post waiting shelter" or "A type".
Many waiting sheds were constructed by the BCC as a direct result of petitioning by the community or progress societies. The Council would then complete a survey over several days to see if a stop was needed. Waiting sheds promoted the system of public transport by providing a comfortable waiting area protected from the elements, and were often internally lit. Letters of thanks to the editor of the Telegraph and Courier Mail record that this detail was appreciated by passengers who could read the daily paper while waiting for trams or at night. After 1945, the Council realised revenue could be gained from the structures and many were adorned with billboards and illuminated signs.
Two factors were responsible for the decrease in public transport usage after 1945: the end of petrol rationing in 1950 and the affordability of locally built cars such as the Holden. However, on 28 September 1962, the trams were dealt a blow from which they would never recover. The Paddington tram depot, a landmark in the district since 1915, was destroyed by fire along with 67 trams – 20 per cent of the fleet. To compensate for the loss, ageing "Dreadnought" trams and buses borrowed from Sydney were hurriedly brought into service. This incident forced the Brisbane City Council to consider whether to rebuild the trams or convert to buses.
By the 1960s, the car was unquestionably king of the road, this twentieth century phenomenon strangling the efficiency of trams and trolley buses. The Lord Mayor, Clem Jones, believed that diesel buses would provide the most effective service for the city.
In 1964, the tide began to turn for the tramway system. Reduced numbers of passengers and rising losses forced cuts in the frequency of many services. Also, the State Government had commissioned the US town planning company Wilbur Smith and Associates, to carry out a comprehensive survey of Brisbane’s traffic requirements for the foreseeable future. The fate of trams and trolleybuses was sealed, as they stood in the way of proposed road widening and traffic islands and were seen to be inflexible, unlike the diesel bus.
On the night of Sunday 13 April 1969, the last tram passed along Queen Street with a police escort on its final run to the workshops at Boomerang Street, Milton. On that day, 72,000 people travelled on the trams.
A number of former tram shelters have been moved or demolished for road works. Those that remain provide an attractive shade and shelter for bus passengers and make an aesthetic contribution to the streetscape. This shelter is still used by bus passengers on the Paddington and Red Hill routes.
Source: Queensland Heritage Register.
