Old Boulder Racecourse Club House

Statement of Significance

The place has significance as the site of the Boulder Racecourse. The building functioned as the administration office for the Boulder Racing Club for approximately 41 years, and it was the last building remaining of the Boulder Racecourse. The present suburb of 'Fairways' was named in recognition of the former Boulder Golf Course. The place played an important social and historical role in the local community and wider horse racing fraternity in Western Australia.

Physical Description

The single-storey building was constructed of (red) Coolgardie brick with stucco ornamentation, timber framed and hipped and gabled roofs covered with corrugated galvanised iron. Part of the rear verandah was infilled. The building was set well back from the street alignment in a native garden, and was flanked by two large mature trees.

History

The Boulder Racing Club was formed in 1897. The first chairman of the club was J. M. Hopkins, Mayor of Boulder, and the secretary was James A. Hopkins, his brother. In September 1897, several gentlemen of the newly formed Committee walked into the bush to select a site for a racecourse. On 13 November 1897, the Boulder Racing Club held its first race meeting on the site, without stands or fences. The Boulder City Handicap was the principal event on the card, and Mr Kidman won it with the St. Legar gelding, Galant, the jockey being the well-known lightweight E. Griffen. Beginning in 1898, Kalgoorlie traders took a leading part in organising annual gala days at which sport played a prominent part. Boulder followed suit in the following year when its first meet took place on Sunday 24 August 1899 at the Boulder Racecourse. By 1900, gala days had become, for both towns, one of the year’s most important fixtures. Gala days took place in the spring, and were opened by a procession organised by the traders in which their freshly painted and brightly decorated vans and carts, as well as special floats, figured prominently (Webb, 1993: 563). In 1899 the Kalgoorlie Miner published an advertisement: "Boulder Racing Club, Visitors to the Boulder Races can depend on getting a Good Luncheon, as Mr H Levy of the Paris Grill and Oyster Rooms, Hannan-street, Kalgoorlie, is the Caterer". In addition, the Kalgoorlie Miner published timetables for the additional trains that ran on Wednesday and Saturday in connection with the Boulder races, under the heading "Boulder Races". The Club Secretary, J. A. Hopkins, also placed notices in the paper regarding the Committee meetings scheduled to be held at Mulcahy's Grand Hotel, and advertising that the rights to the privileges for the up and coming meetings (for Inside Publicans Booth, Outside Publicans Booth, Outside Gates, Luncheon Booth and Bike Stand) were to be sold at Mulcahy's Grand Hotel. Dust was often a real annoyance at these early race meetings. It was mainly caused by the turned ground by the alluvial miners and the removal of trees around the towns for mining and firewood purposes. By the meeting in January 1900, visitors at Boulder were pleased to see the whole of the grandstand area covered with screened gravel, 2 inches deep, which helped keep some of the dust down. The building (photograph above) was constructed in c. 1900 and used as the administration office for the Boulder Racing Club. It was located near the entrance to the grounds and was surrounded by beautiful flower gardens and stands. It was considered that the facilities at Boulder Racecourse, though smaller than the Kalgoorlie Racecourse, were better planned and laid out than at Kalgoorlie. There was a Conservatory and Fernhouse at the Racecourse, indicating the importance the Racing Club gave to providing amenities at the course. At one time it was the only course in Western Australia to have a steeplechase track, with difficult obstacles and a nasty triple jump. Many Eastern States riders came over to compete in the Great Western Steeplechase of two and half miles for a prize of 850 sovereigns, and said it was the toughest course in Australia. Many started but few finished. First used at the turn of the century, the steeplechase track had its last event in 1915. At its cup meeting in 1904, the club created an Australian totalisator record, when the sum of £76,166-10-0 ($152,333) was invested. On March 28 1939, the Kalgoorlie Miner reported under 'Racing Affairs - Kalgoorlie Club's Meeting - Member's Discussion' that Mr H. T. Stables (Chairman of the Boulder Racing Club) and Mr V. Burkett suggested ways of increasing attendance at races, through increasing women’s interest in racing and amalgamating the Kalgoorlie and Boulder Clubs respectively. Making the latter suggestion, Mr Burkett said that the community could not stand two courses, but would support one. During the previous year the Kalgoorlie and Boulder Racing Clubs conducted a successful combined meeting in aid of various charities. Mr Burkett went on to say that the Boulder Racecourse would make an ideal swimming pool, along the lines of the Kalgoorlie Olympic Pool. In 1941, the Boulder Racecourse was taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in May 1942. This was the end of racing at Boulder but the club hired the Kalgoorlie course for its annual club meetings. This position continued until 1953 when the two clubs amalgamated and became the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club as it is known today. The RAAF Base 4 A.D. was established with accommodation for 1000 RAAF and 500 WAAF personnel. The club office was used as the Barrack Store until the RAAF moved out some time around 1947-1948. When the airforce vacated the Boulder Racecourse in the post-war period, hundreds of immigrants came. Once approval had been granted from the Commonwealth Disposals Committee, the materials from the disused RAAF premises from Parkeston and the Boulder Racecourse were removed by the Council to land set aside for the purpose of workers’ homes in Wittenoom Street. The houses were built under a municipal housing scheme. Immigration in the 1960s was different to the 1950s. In the 1950s they brought of two hundred single men – a lot ex-servicemen, who camped on the old Boulder racecourse, and many studied at the School of Mines and became mining engineers. From 1953, the Boulder Golf Club was established on the former site of the Boulder Racecourse. The old administration building of the Boulder Racing Club was used as the Golf Club's clubrooms until the Golf Club was relocated to another site some time around 1989. In 1987/88, the Western Australian Heritage Committee granted $15,000 for conservation of the building. The works included: removing aluminium sliding doors and brick up openings to match existing brickwork; replacing doors and window frames to match existing; cement rendering where necessary to match existing; replacing timber moulding to match existing; replacing guttering to roof of building; and painting the interior and exterior, except for the roof. The works were completed in late 1990. The overall cost of the project was in excess of $100,000. During the 1990s, the building was used by the Boulder Play Group until it was damaged by fire and subsequently destroyed in late 1999. Up until then, it was the only structure remaining from the former Boulder Racecourse, and in November 1998, the Heritage Council of WA's Register Committee nominated the building to be listed on the State Register of Heritage Places. The matter of registration was not, however, progressed. (Note: the information provided above is taken from various articles in the Kalgoorlie Miner; the National Trust of Australia (WA) Assessment Record and additional information on the place (August 1999); and a letter from Mr. T Johnson who based in the RAAF during 1944-45 (March 1999).

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