Bunbury Bathing Pavilion

Statement of Significance

The Bathing Pavilion , a concrete, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• The pavilion was established by the Bunbury Municipal Council for the use of residents and tourists and demonstrates the commitment of the local government in providing safe swimming and recreational facilities;
• The Pavilion was a focal point of community activity and reflects the continuing popularity of Bunbury as a holiday resort in the early 1900s.

Physical Description

The site of the Ocean Beach (Bright Spot) Bathing Pavilion is now the City of Bunbury Surf Life Saving Club Inc. and a restaurant building. Cream brick buildings with red brick banding and a corrugated metal roof. There are no visible remnants of the original Bathing Pavilion building. The original building was a two-storey reinforced concrete pavilion at the Back Beach, Bunbury. The building had a frontage of 158ft [48.1584 metres] and a depth of 45ft [13.716 metres]. There was a tower, 60ft high [18.288 metres], centrally placed which served as lookout for life savers and sight seers

History

Early history
The first land grants at Bunbury were taken up in 1830 when an expedition navigated the Collie River to the Darling Range in search of fertile property. Governor James Stirling became the largest landowner in the area, when he was granted more than 20,000 acres of fertile land. Settlement of the region began in 1838, when John Scott was brought out to farm Stirling's land to fulfil the conditions of the land grant. In 1852, Stirling sold a half share of his holdings in his Leschenault Estate (Location 26) and the land was gradually subdivided and sold off.
The townsite of Bunbury was surveyed and gazetted in 1841. It remained a small town until the arrival of the gold boom in the 1890s and the growth of the timber industry. This saw the emergence of Bunbury as a seaside health resort, nicknamed ‘the Brighton of the Colony’. The population of the town grew in this time from 572 to 2970 residents.

The Pavilion
The Ocean Beach Bathing Pavilion’s construction began in 1939 for the cost of 5,530 Pounds. The Bunbury Municipal Council commissioned the building design to the renowned structural engineer, Mr Reginald Summer-Hayes of Perth. The building opened in February of 1940. The well-known Bunbury Building contractors J. G Hough and Son Ltd. were responsible for the construction of the pavilion. The Ocean Beach Pavilion was commonly known as ‘the Pavilion’ and then by some as the ‘Bright Spot’ after the name of the Tearooms.
Early plans for the Bathing Pavilion
The West Australian newspaper reported on the 7th of May 1938 that plans were announced to commence construction of a large bathing pavilion for the Municipal Council (figs. 2 & 3). The Western Australian paper described the venture below;

Plans have been prepared for the erection of a two-storey reinforced concrete bathing pavilion at the Back Beach, Bunbury, for the Municipal Council. The building will have a frontage of 158ft [48.1584 metres] and a depth of 45ft [13.716 metres]. The plan provides that on the ground floor there will be a foyer, two shops, dressing rooms, showers, lavatories for men and women, a promenade overlooking the ocean, and stairs leading to the upper floor and decks. On the upper storey provision is made for tearooms, kitchen stores, and caretaker’s quarters. There will be a tower, 60ft high [18.288 metres], centrally placed which will serve as lookout for life savers and sight seers (The West Australian 1938 p.8).

The report goes on to state that the design will be on ‘Modern Lines’. The colour of the building itself was to be cement finished in a cream colour with brown brick panels and flower boxes, garden paths were even to be set out to create a harmonious link with the buildings streamlining.

The Bunbury Ocean Beach Bathing Pavilion was opened during February of 1940. A 1939 report from the Sunday Times describes the building as ‘imposing from every angle that it is viewed’ (Sunday Times 1939 p.3). Built on solid Basalt rock the building was positioned on the sands in front of the Indian Ocean, the pavilion was constructed using reinforced concrete in a continuous pour method. The position of the Pavilion on the beach was purposefully arrived at due to safety factors, allowing patrons to walk to the change rooms and shops without having to cross Ocean Drive.

The interior entry of the building comprised of two concreted stairways, with one leading down to the ground floor and the other set of stairs leading to the floor above. The first floor foyer was the entrance to the cabaret; also entered through a set of stairs on the southern end of the building. A large space of 17ft – 29ft the room had large plate glass observation windows looking out over the Indian Ocean. The walls were constructed of sand plaster, while the ‘well’ ceiling was a latticed design. The Cabaret area was used for many different events including dances. The attached kitchen (25ft – 13ft) had a large nickel stove, white tiles and many cupboards. There were also half doors used for serving bays (Sunday Times 1939 p.3). On the way through the foyer was a caretaker’s room underneath the tower and beyond that at the northern end of the building was the open air tea gardens (47ft – 38ft) where refreshments were served under beach umbrellas. The tearooms expanded the whole way around the building with 180 degree views of the beach that were finished with iron railings.

Moving back into the foyer and descending down the stairs that led to the lower floor on the Western Side was the beachfront. If looking at the building’s west side from the beach a large portico and cantilever verandah coupled together to act as the support for the promenade above.

Outside of the portico footbaths were supplied. French doors gave access to the large downstairs area of the building. This interior space housed lockers and a first aid room. To the left was the ladies surf club change rooms and to the right was the male rooms. These spaces included not only large change rooms but lavatories and showers also. The rooms were all fitted with Flemish glass. There were also public conveniences located outside. At night the beachfront was lit up with floodlights.

In 1960 the pavilion was redecorated by the Bunbury Council with the surf club as the main beneficiary of this renovation. The council cut the public change rooms in half, giving more room to the club; later an office space and surf boat were added (A History of the Bunbury Surf Club 2015 p.1). The Pavilion had a long history of association to the Bunbury Surf Carnival with many inter carnival surf lifesaving events held at the Back Beach.
The Bright Spot
The Bright Spot (the name of the tearooms interchangeably used as the name of the Pavilion) was owned by a number lessees. The first known owner was Perry (may be Percy) Edwards who also owned the Harvey Aerated Water Company (notes taken from a conversation with Ray Repacholi). The second lessee was a man known as Pitias Stamatiadhis who either began to lease the property in 1942 or 1943. It is clear that Stamatiadhis leases the property until his sudden and unfortunate death at a Greek wedding on the 13th of December 1948 (West Australian 1948 p.8). There is a third known lessee, Jack (Gill) Poat, who has also been dubbed the ‘father of the Bunbury Herald’. There is evidence that Poat runs the establishment in March of 1951 (West Australian 1951 p.6). The last known owner was Jack Hayward, who held the lease in either 1965 or 1966 (Shaw, Colin 2016).

Acts of Vandalism and Robbery
Although the Bunbury Bathing Pavilion was the source of many events that caused social cohesion it wasn’t all smooth sailing. For example in 1942 the Daily News reported that two wood and iron seats were lifted from the verandah, thrown to the beach (a drop of 14ft) and smashed beyond repair (Daily News 1942 p.6). Then strangely enough in 1953 a man created wanton destruction by using an 8ft of 3x2 piece of Jarrah to smash 102 sheets of window glass! Two men sat by in a car heard the commotion and confronted the man. The man, a Peter Air, then threatened them with violence. The total damage to the Pavilion was one large plate glass, five casement windows and ninety six windows in the dressing room section. Peter Air, an engineer then recently arrived from the Eastern States was charged with the offence.

The Bright Spot Tearooms had also fallen victim to robbery. It was reported in the West Australian on November 20th that the tearooms had been robbed of tobacco, cigarettes and money to the value of about 20 pounds. The same article mentions that the tearoom was broken into three weeks prior and again cigarettes, confectionary and around 7 pounds had been stolen. The point of entry had been a window that was forced open.

The passing of the Pavilion
The Pavilion building although grand and bold in design was demolished for unknown reasons. The Pavilion was superseded by the Bunbury Surf Club building that opened in 1967. Pictured below is the second surf club that met with same fate as the Pavilion in 1988.

There are now two buildings in this vicinity, the Bunbury Surf Lifesaving Club (south) and a restaurant building (north).

The City of Bunbury Surf Live Saving Club was founded in 1915 and was the second club founded in Western Australia (Cottesloe SLSC was first in 1909).

Since those early days members have volunteered countless hours of Surf Patrol duty to keep Bunbury’s beaches safe for swimmers and surfers. Members have performed numerous rescues and attended to thousands of major and minor first aid incidents. The City of Bunbury SLSC is one of 311 Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia with a total membership of over 165,820 members. We are affiliated with Surf Life Saving Western Australia (SLSWA).

Integrity/Authenticity

Date of survey: 04/08/2022

Condition

Demolished

Uses

Historic Themes

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.