Prichard's Dental Surgery (fmr), 50 Wellington Street

Statement of Significance

Prichard’s Dental Surgery (fmr), 50 Wellington Street, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • The place displays some aesthetic heritage value through its modest Inter-war period detailing, notably to the parapet, that positively contributes to the Wellington Street streetscape. • The place is representative of the many small business premises that were established to serve the varied needs of the Bunbury community and the surrounding rural areas during the first half of the twentieth century.

Physical Description

Prichard’s Dental Surgery (fmr), 50 Wellington Street, is a single storey rendered masonry building with a concealed corrugated steel gable roof displaying characteristics of the Inter-War Free Classical style of architecture. The building has a zero building line set back to the street with a stepped parapet. The parapet has rendered cornicing and coping with raised rendered detailing. The street elevation is painted and rendered masonry with a modified shopfront. The front facade has a steel framed sloped awning with timber slats. The shopfront has a recessed timber entry door with multi-paned fixed glazing to the front. The eastern wall features a painted mural while western side of the building has a parking lot. The building was occupied by 'Jus B Cos' at the time of heritage survey but vacated in 2022.

History

At the beginning of the 1890s, Bunbury had a population of only 572. By the end of that decade, the population had risen to 2,970 – reflecting the rate of increase experienced by the colony as a whole following the discovery of significant gold deposits. This was matched by improvements in infrastructure, including the opening of the Perth to Bunbury railway line in 1893 and significant development of the port. From this time on the town developed not only as an important regional centre, but also as a seaside tourist resort. Despite the adverse impact of war and depression, Bunbury continued to experience residential and business development during the Inter-War era, and the population reached around 6,000 in 1939. The ongoing development and consolidation of the town over time continues to be reflected in its local heritage places. As the town developed through the early twentieth century the number of prominent two storey buildings increased within the main business centre, with hotels, banks, offices and emporiums creating local landmarks. However, the majority of shops and offices continued to be housed in relatively modest single storey buildings, typically with simple stepped parapets and recessed entries flanked by large windows. While they attracted little attention in the public records, these small premises offered a wide range of important services and were essential to the local community. Within this context, the section of Wellington Street that linked the main commercial centre (Victoria Street) with the Railway Station provided a prime location for small shops and offices. By 1926/27 Town Lot 86 was owned by Elder Smith & Co and occupied by two business premises: • 3 Wellington Street (now #52) – occupied by Joseph Carroll (manager Elder Smith & Co) • 5 Wellington Street (now #50) – occupied by John Lewis Prichard (dentist) Pritchard’s surgery was located here from October 1923, when it was announced that he was moving into “a fine new building specially erected for him between W. Brittain & Sons premises and Elder, Smith and Co.’s offices.” In 1936, Bunbury underwent a major reallocation of street numbers which resulted in the property changing from 5 Wellington Street to its present address of 50 Wellington Street. The Rate Book of 1951 shows that Prichard had purchased the front portion of Lot 3 (50 Wellington Street) at some stage and was still operating his business from this address (while living at 10 Turner Street). Liberal party owned the building prior to 1985. 16/05/1985 Jerry Bogdanoff purchased the building from the Liberal Party. Following the purchase Bogdanoff added a two storey addition. 1992 Entrance door relocated to RHS, tumbled bricks used to replace lower glass panels and glass panes with wooden dividers. Staircase from the SW Times Building and the wooden bannister from the old court house. 1985-2002 operated as Good Earth selling Surf gear and health foods. 2002 – Current Ruma (WA) Pty Ltd purchased property. Continued to run as Good Earth Surf Shop till 2016 before moving to its current location of 33 Wellington Street. 2018/19 Piercing and tattoo parlour 2021/2 Natural perfumery and cosmetic shop (Jus B Cos) 2022/current – vacant

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Medium Authenticity:High Date of survey:2/01/2022

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update