North Perth Town Hall - Main Hall

Statement of Significance

North Perth Town Hall - (later building) is a fine civic building in the Federation Free Classical style, having a sobriety to complement the exuberance of the neighbouring original building. The place is an important element of the North Perth civic group located at the heart of the urban village. It has associations with municipal governance, civic and social events that also engender a sense of community.

Physical Description

The North Perth Town Hall (Main Hall) is a single storey façade set in front of a functionalist hall. The principal façade is basically in stucco with a stepped parapet which carries the building's name, set above a rather Beaux Arts composition, with central arched fanlit doorway, with frieze over, and symmetrical double hung windows and fanlights. Each of the façade openings is set between pilasters of red face brickwork. Side and rear facades are painted brickwork with regular pilasters and an orderly array of window and door openings. Minimal hard surface setback and adjacent park Minimal

History

The North Perth Road Board District was gazetted in March 1899 and North Perth was declared a municipality in 1901. The following year, a town hall and council chambers were built on View Street. The building was designed by H. J. Prockter as one part of a larger Town Hall complex. His plan envisaged two smaller and one large central hall, interconnected to form one large structure. The hall that was built at this time was one of the smaller, or lesser, halls. It was built by Robert A. Gamble, who was elected Mayor of North Perth in 1909. In 1910, a larger hall, known as the Main Hall, was built on the adjoining site, in approximately the position envisaged by Prockter for the central, and largest, of the three halls in his design. This hall was not built in the same design as the first. In 1933, the Main Hall was enlarged with an addition to the front to bring the building line to the same level as the Lesser Hall, a new façade, lobby and side vestibules. In 1914, the Municipality of North Perth amalgamated with the City of Perth to form the Greater Perth Council and North Perth no longer had its own Mayor and town council. The halls were then used as district halls, providing overflow classrooms for the North Perth school, and a venue for a number of lodges and friendly societies, as well as for an infant health centre until a separate building for the centre was added on the eastern side of the Lesser Hall. This health centre was the first of its kind in the Town of Vincent area.

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