Nurses Quarters (fmr) Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital

Statement of Significance

: Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:

Primary Significance: The creation of a government hospital in 1894 was one of the earliest acts in the establishment of the young town of Kalgoorlie and served the two towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder, together with the outlying districts. The rapid development of the government hospital throughout the period 1896-1910 reflected the rapid development of the Goldfields. The curtailing of the development of the site by 1910 reflected the decline in the relative importance of gold, together with the onset of a more general low-level depression in Australia.

Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital has had a long and continuous historic association with its present location and has been a valued community resource since 1894, as a place for health care, employment and as a focus for community endeavour.

Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital is one of the key institutions of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, as its major medical facility and has significance to the region, as the regional health centre. It is one of the places that contribute to the community's sense of place.

The landscape in the area of Maritana Street with its remnant hard landscape elements and plantings of mature E. cladocalyx - sugar gums and, more importantly, the substantial remains of a grove of E. comaldulensis - river gums create a distinctive pleasant and shady setting and have a landmark quality.

Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital is representative of a number of planning principles for hospital sites, reflecting the changing patterns of medical care in the regions of Western Australia.

Secondary significance: Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital is associated with numerous identities, significant to the history of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, doctors and staff who worked at the hospital and ordinary folk who were treated there.

The hospital site as a whole is representative of the establishment, development and growth of a regional government hospital.

Specifically, the former nurses quarters has local significance for aesthetic, historic and social value.

(Note: the information above was taken from Considine and Griffiths Architects Pty Ltd, 2001).

Physical Description

The building is timber framed with part weatherboard part fibro walls. It has timber floorboards with a floor structure on stumps and corrugated iron roof. It is simple and functional in design.

Some fretwork at the Maritana Street entrance and minor corbelling to a fireplace are the only decorative features. The door knobs are detailed brass and doors timber panelled, paint finish. Walls and ceilings are plasterboard with simple skirtings, architraves and cornices. Wide verandahs encircle the building and each room has a french door pair opening onto it (Wendy Carter notes for a broadcast, Heritage Council File 1313).

History

The early history of the Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital is closely tied to the discovery of gold and the fluctuating fortunes of the region. From a small and domestic scale country town hospital made of timber structures linked together with covered ways on a sparsely developed site, Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital has grown into a major regional hospital, providing most of the services of larger metropolitan hospitals.

By 1935, Western Australia was emerging from the effects of the Depression. The Goldfields were enjoying a minor boom and expansion occurred at Kalgoorlie Regional Hospital. Additions were made to the operating block attached to the surgical ward. This section was demolished in the 1970s. New nurses quarters were proposed and were constructed in 1937 to provide accommodation for nurses. When first built, it housed approximately 28 nurses and three sisters when first built. The building continued to be used as nurses quarters well into the 1980s. It was later used as student accommodation for a local college.

Over the years, other nurses quarters were constructed to provide supplemental accommodation. A building was constructed nearby in c. 1941 as Matron and Sister quarters; new night nurses quarters were built in 1955 at the site of the current St John's Ambulance building. Later in 1960, a larger two-storey brick nurses quarters was designed and built in front of the night nurses quarters facing Maritana Street. In the 1960s, one section of the old nurses quarters was converted to physiotherapy, lecture and changerooms.

In 1993 is was stated that:

"the management claims it is in such bad condition that it cannot be used for accommodation any longer and is in the process of removing all occupants" (Wendy Carter: notes for a broadcast, Heritage Council file 1313).

In 2001, the building is vacant and is proposed to be demolished to make way for future building works planned for the site.

(Note: the information above was taken from Considine and Griffiths Architects Pty Ltd, 2001).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High
Authenticity: Moderate to High

Condition

Good

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.