Duncraig Leisure Centre

Child Places

• 27340 Ken Colbung Statue, Duncraig

Statement of Significance

The Duncraig Leisure Centre has social significance for residents of the area as a recreational facility and social gathering place. It is representative of the development of services in the 1970s for a growing community.

Physical Description

The Duncraig Leisure Centre is a single storey brick structure, with a central second storey. Located in a similar group of purpose-built Council facilities, the multi-aspect building features a red brick façade characteristic of 1970s-built structures, with a mansard roofline. The front entrance features a concrete area extending from the front doors to a red brick wall, with an alcove for a flagpole and statue. The area between the brick wall and the road reserve is grassed, with large endemic trees planted. The building features large rectangular shaped windows on three of the four walls, and multiple double door entrances. The outer area includes a children’s play area, a stand-alone wooden pergola structure, and shade sail additions. The Leisure Centre is open to the front from Marmion Ave and enclosed on three sides by a low chain wire fence. It is bordered by the Duncraig Library on its northern side, and car parks and a loading dock to the east of the building. The entire group of facilities is bordered by the Percy Doyle Reserve.

History

The Sorrento Duncraig Community Recreation Association (Inc) was formed in 1973 and the land was vested in the then Shire of Wanneroo on 14 December 1973 as a ‘Library and Community Centre’. The site was originally a tennis club. The Sorrento Duncraig Recreation Centre was built in 1974 as part of the Percy Doyle Reserve, which also contains the Duncraig Library, the Sorrento Bowling Club, football fi elds and tennis courts. An honour board in the building lists its members from 1974 to 1993. Percival Kenneth Doyle was a Wanneroo Road Board member, elected in 1960 in Wanneroo’s final year as a Road Board prior to becoming a local government. He was a business proprietor who was one of two elected as first representatives for a new Southwest Ward. Since construction, the operations of the centre has shifted away from that of a leisure centre to a community-based facility. On 18 September 2006, as part of a rebranding program, the Recreation Centre was subsequently renamed the Duncraig Leisure Centre with the orange logo that is now used. In 2020 the place was leased for five years to the Churches of Christ Sport and Recreation Association and in 2023 is used for its basketball program.

Condition

Fair - assessed from street view only

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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