Frankel Street Shopping Centre

Statement of Significance

Frankel Street Shopping Centre is a group of single storey brick, glass and concrete shops has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
the place is representative of local shopping precinct, the first outside the CBD area, which contributes to a sense of place, and sense of community for Carey Park residents.
Frankel Street Shopping Centre was one of the first suburban shopping centres developed by the government of Western Australia to provide for the needs of residents in State Housing Commission developments. Carey Park was one of the first government housing developments completed following World War II.

Physical Description

Frankel Street Shopping Centre is a group of single storey brick, glass and concrete shops with cantilevered awnings, constructed in 1950 for the State Housing Commission. The walls are painted brick and rendered brick and the roof is metal clad hidden behind a rendered brick parapet wall. The shops have a truncated corner.

History

Frankel Street Shopping Centre was built in 1950 as part of the development of Carey Park, a State Housing Commission (SHC) project.

In the fifteen years from the end of World War Two to the 1960s the population of Bunbury almost doubled. This prompted Bunbury Council to address urban planning issues, including the development of SHC estates.

The SHC was formed in January 1947 after the passing of the State Housing Act. Its predecessor was the Worker’s Homes Board which had been established in 1912. The SHC was mainly established to provide low cost housing for families of limited means.

In 1947 the SHC had several aims: (i) the building of houses for rental and sale under the State Housing Act; (ii) lending money by way of mortgage for people to build their own houses; (iii) the building of houses for rental and sale under the Commonwealth and State Housing agreement of August 1944; (iv) to act as agent for the Commonwealth for the building of war service homes for rental and sale (this began in 1918); (v) to take charge of the providing and administering housing for indigent (homeless) people; and (vi) to take charge of the administration of the Building Operations and Control Act, 1945-46.

Bunbury received the greatest amount of funding assistance behind Perth and between 1945 and 1960, 883 new homes were built in Bunbury. This accounted for almost 42% of new houses built in Bunbury in the period. The SHC also built shops in the new housing estates.

Carey Park was the first of the large state housing subdivisions in the Bunbury area and was subdivided in 1947. By 1960 Carey Park was a suburb of 6,000 people, or almost half the population of Bunbury.

The shopping centre, which initially comprised five brick shops, was built by local contractor J G Hough and Son at a cost of £10,750. Hough completed additions in 1955 to a cost of £1,300.

The earliest houses in the development were built in Wilson Street, less than one kilometre from the shopping centre. At the time, the shopping centre was an innovative plan to co-locate several key facilities on the one site to provide for the suburb. Early shops included a delicatessen, butcher and newsagent. The shopping centre proved successful as residents of Carey Park did not need to travel into the central business district for their daily needs.

Carey Park was named for surveyor T C Carey, who had owned all the land at one stage. Carey first subdivided the land in the 1860s. He was the first chairman of the Bunbury Municipal Council and a member of the Legislative Council. Frankel Street was named for Charles Fra(e)nkel, Bunbury’s German-born mayor from 1910 to 1914.

Integrity/Authenticity

High degree of integrity (original intent clear, current use compatible, high long term sustainability).
Medium degree of authenticity - alterations but with much original fabric remaining
(These statements based on street survey only).
The buildings remain largely in original form, although some shop fronts have been altered to accommodate change in business use.

Condition

Condition assessed as fair to good (assessed from streetscape survey only).

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.